The History of
Middlesex County 1635-1885 J. H. Beers & Co., 36 Vesey Street, New York
1884 Pages 229-241 Town of Portland By Hon. William H. BUELL
[transcribed by Janece Streig]

GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY.

Portland is
one of the two northern towns of Middlesex county. It was first known as East
Middletown, being constituted the Third Society of Middletown, in 1714. In 1767,
it was incorporated at Chatham, that township also including the societies of
Middle Haddam and East Hampton.

In May 1841, that part which was known
as the First Society of Chatham was set off as a separate town, with the name of
Portland. It is bounded on the north by the town of Glastonbury, on the east by
Chatham, and the Connecticut River forms it western and southern boundary. It is
nine miles long and three miles wide.

The population of the township at
the several census dates has been reported as follows: 1840, included with
Chatham; 1850, 2905; 1860, 3657; 1870, 4,694; 1880, 4,156.

The village is beautifully situated upon the eastern bank of the
Connecticut River, where it sweeps around the bend opposite Middletown and
Cromwell. Any one looking at Portland, as represented upon a good map, will see
at one the significance and appropriateness of its Indian name, Wangunk, "The
Bend."

It is celebrated chiefly for its fine quarries of brown or sand
stone; these, with the other geological formations, are described at length in
another place. There are some fine farming lands, principally near the river. In
some places it is very rocky, but well adapted to sheep farming. Its location,
in regard to the river, and its other natural advantages, make it, after its
rather uninviting approaches are passed, one of the most delightful of villages.

The Main street is about two miles long, and four rods average width. It
is shaded by beautiful old elms, and in some places by a double row of maples.
It is partly lighted and paved. It has a fine soldiers' monument, six churches,
two post offices, stores, two public halls, and nine school houses.

The
shipyard of Gildersleeve & Sons is at the upper end of the village called
Gildersleeve. This village has a post office and a large brick store. An account
of the shipyard, churches, schools, and industries of the town will be found
under those respective heads.

Besides the great brownstone quarries for
which Portland is famous, it has other quarried, which in other localities might
be considered remarkable. The granite quarry on Calling's Hill, now disused,
furnished the stone for the railroad bridge across the river.

On this
same hill is a chalybeate spring, known for many years, but never much used for
medicinal purposes. There is also a spring near the top of Bald Hill, said to be
strongly impregnated with iron. In 1789, appearances imbedded in so hard a rock
that no efforts were made to mine it. The fine feldspar mine, near Deacon Ralph
PELTON's, has been worked by him since 1872. Several thousand tons of the stone
have been taken out. A sample of the feldspar taken to the Centennial was
pronounced the finest there. Fine beryls, garnets, etc., have been found here.
Mica has been mined in several places. Coal of good quality was found at Indian
Hill, about 1780. Plumbago has been found in small quantities.

The
cobalt mine, at the foot of Great Hill, was opened by Dr. STEPHANNES, but the
operations were mostly carried on within the limits of Middle Haddam.

Pacansett Pond and Job's Pond-so named from Mr. Job PAYNE, who formerly
owned the land-are the largest bodies of water within the limits of Portland.
Job's Pond has been thought very remarkable. It has no apparent outlet, and is
in some places 40 to 60 feet deep. Says Dr. FIELD in his history:

"It
rises and falls as much as fifteen feet but not from such causes as affect other
ponds. It is often the highest in the dry season and lowest in the wet season of
the year. When it begins to rise it rises regularly for six or twelve months and
then falls for about the same period.

Those, however, who are most
capable of judging think that there is nothing mysterious about it; it is
probably fed by a very deep springs which are not affected by the rainfall until
after a considerable time. This beautiful sheet of water, deeply set between the
hills, is now known as Waroona Lake. This appropriate name is the Australian
word for "solitude." Great Hill Pond is an artificial lakelet at the foot of
Great Hill, covering about 100 acres of marshy land. The highest elevations of
land are the Great Hill and Bald Hill. This last with "Mesomesic Mountain" and
Raccoon Hill have long been noted as the resort of rattlesnakes. Hundreds have
been killed here. In September 1881, Deacon PELTON, who has been very active in
bruising the serpent's head, in one afternoon killed fifteen, and the next
morning killed four and captured six. The largest was 5 feet 10 inches in
length.

The old elm near St. John's Chapel should be noticed as it
supposed to be the largest in the State. Two feet above the ground it measures
22 feet, 8 inches girth. It was here when the town was first settled, and was
held in veneration by the Indians who held pow-wows under it.

A large
amount of hay is annually gathered, the quarries using the most of it. Sheep are
kept to some extent. Deacon F. PAYNE and Osmer PELTON cultivate extensive peach
orchards. Cardella REEVES is quite an extensive fruit grower.

"Wangunk
Meadow" has always been held as a common field on account of the difficulty of
maintaining and renewing fences after the annual floods. The boundaries of each
man's share are defined, and each has a certain portion of the outside fence to
maintain.

The land was granted in March 1698 (two previous grants being
annulled) to Sam'll BIDWELL, John HAMBLIN, John BACON, Andrew WARNER, and Will'm
CORNWALL jun'r. The first legible entry in their record is:

"March ye
8th 1736-7 William CORNWELL Senior, Sergt. Jas. BUCK, and Joseph WHITE were
chosen to order the prudentials of s'd field. Joseph WHITE Clerk, Corp'l Thomas
BUCK and Sergt. Ebenezer GIBS chosen fence viewers, Moses CUMMIN, John ROBBINS
and John JONES hay wards," "The Proprietors by Major vote Agree that the s'd
field shall be free for feeding by the proprietors cattle for three weeks and
noe more By Major vote this Meeting was Adjourned to the first Monday in October
next at Sun two ours high at Night."

The aboriginal
proprietors of Portland were the Wangunks, or Womgoms, a small tribe or fragment
of a tribe which had belonged to the great Algonkin race, but in the confusion
resulting from the incursions of the conquering Pequots the great tribes were
split into large or small bands, under the leadership of their own sagamores, or
sachems, and wandered along the banks of the Connecticut River, sometimes
settling in a locality which promised to supply their simple requirements,
owning allegiance, indeed, to one great chief or king, but with little clannish
feeling or national strength. These small clans, comprising all Indians living
on the shores of the Connecticut River, within the limits of the colony, were
known to the early settlers under the general designation of "River Indians."
Their king was Sequassen, the sachem of Hartford, but the particular chief of
the Wangunks was Sowheag, or Sequin, who, when first known to the white men,
lived at Pyquag, or Wethersfield, but after some quarrels with the settlers he
removed to Mattabesett (Middletown).

The eastern shore of the river,
opposite Middletown, was at this time a dense forest. Huge masses of stone
overhung the river, and trees which were the growth of centuries shaded the
banks. The straits were then narrower, and the river consequently wider at this
place, forming almost a lake. The main street of Portland was a swamp, inhabited
by herons and other waterfowl. The woodlands and meadows farther back were
considered good hunting grounds, as they abounded in large and small game. Along
the narrow trains through this dark forest the wild beast and Indian hunter
alike noiselessly traveled in single file.

Few white men were seen here.
Traders, like the SHELINE brothers, who came to barter their brass kettles,
glass beads, knives, etc., for furs and fish, made their annual visits, enjoyed
the hospitality of their red brothers, and departed; their fathers' schooner
laden with a valuable cargo.

In 1672, the town of Middletown bought of
Naschegon Sepunnemoe and several other Indians, a tract extending six miles
eastward from the river, from Wethersfield bounds on the north, to Haddam bounds
on the south. The Indians, however, reserved 300 acres on the east side for
their exclusive use, besides the right of fishing where they pleased, cutting
sampling, withes for baskets, etc.,

In 1675, Middletown set aside these
300 acres "for the heirs of Sowheag and the Mattabesset Indians." Some confusion
has arisen from the fact that the Indians who lived on this reservation were
called Wanguns, while the land was set apart for the "Mangunks Indians." The
Indians applied names to localities descriptive of the place, beautiful and
appropriate, but not capable of arbitrary transference, and they usually took
their names from the place where they lived. The word Wongunk, Wangunck,
Wangonke, Wongom, Womgog, as it is variously spelled in the old records (each
writer spelling it according to his understanding of the sound which fell from
the Indian lips). Wangonk, as it is most frequently written, meant in the
Aboriginal tongue-as has been said-"The Bend." After the settlement of the
Mattabesett Indians on the opposite shore, they were all probably called
"Wangunks," meaning simple those living in the bend of the river. There is a
record, April 24th 1670, of the

"Indian land at Wangonk, the upland with
ten Acres of meadow within that square is thirtie three Acres, being a hundred
thirty six rods long on the longest side, beginning at a beach tree by the river
side west, a butting on the highway south, and the river, and on the highway
east. The depth at the end is 54 Rods wide. The rest of the meadow belonging to
the Indians at Wangonk is nine Acres lying in various parcels intermixed among
the Englishe's meadow land there and at Deer Island, is six or seven Acres, all
which land was given to the Indians, By the Honourable Mr RAINS and Mr. HOPKINS
In the yeare fiftie A judged by these Gentlemen as a soficent allowance for
them. Thare was also fourtie Acres given to Sansennk & Siana half to each,
buting on the boogie meadow north & east and on the swampe south, on the
undivided land west."

There was also some land at Indian Hill, and 200
acres south of the town house on "both sides of the highway," in the center of
which tract the Third Society of Middletown afterward built their meeting house.
The Indians did not seem at first satisfied with the location of their lands,
for in 1672 the town appointed Ensign WHITE, William CHENY, and Deacon HALL "to
attend the Honoured gentlemen when they come down about laying out the Indian
land at Wangonk." The same year, "it was Agreed by the town, to gratifie the
Indians, in order to acquit all claims & titles to any lands within our
bounds, that they should be either suited with land in undivided land, if they
like, or in the land they propound for, so they give us assurance." And the
committee were instructed to agree with those whose lands must be taken away to
suit the Indians; and to give them other lands or the value of the land in
money.

There were numerous petitions preferred to the General Court, on
the part of settlers, for permission to buy lands included in the reservation.
The General Court exercising a sort of guardianship or protectorate over the
aborigines, its consent was necessary to the conveyance of land.

In
1693, the General Court granted Captain WHITE "liberty to buy a smale parcel of
land at Wamgom about halfe an acre of land or little more of the Indian squa
that is Massecup's wife;" and in May 1697, liberty was granted to "any one of
the Inhabitants of Middletown to purchase of the Indians there inhabiting
claiming propriety of land at Wangunck Meddowe about one acre of grasse land in
the said meddowe."

The wild parties of the other part were also
graciously permitted to sell the land which was the free inheritance of their
fathers. In May 1711, "Canshamet, Indian man and squa widow of Massecup late
sachem, all of Midletown or Glastonbury," were given permission to sell land,
and in 1713, upon petition of John CLARK jr., of Middletown, certain Indians,
named Siana CUSCHAY and Nannamaroos were empowered to make a legal conveyance of
half and acre of land within the meadow commonly called "Wongunck." The Indian,
Siana, may be lived at the place we call Siam. David CLARK, of Middleton, in
1715, bought, with permission of the General Court, of an Indian named Conschoy
(probably the same as Cuschoy) "two acres of land which Lyeth upon an island
commonly called Wongung island."

As has been said, the "Honourable
gentlemen" who came from Hartford in 1748 to fix the place for the second
meeting house, "Set the stake," nearly in the center of the Indian reservation
of 200 acres. In June 1750, it was agreed "to Aply ourselfs to the town of
Middletown for a Libberty for this Society to purchase three Acres of land of
the Indians joining to and Emcompassing the stake which the last gentlemen the
assemblys comite pitched for us to build our meeting house upon." But they soon
"supposed that such a body of Indian Land lyeing so neare the centre of said
Society was a Disadvantage to the publick Interest of this Parish;" and in 1756
they petitioned "the General Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut at their
present session in Hartford to appoint a Com'tee or guardians for the Indians
belonging to said town to assist and direct them in selling their lands in s'd
Society into one, two, three, four, five, or six acre lotments to the
Inhabitants of s'd Society or such part thereof as s'd committee or guardians
shall advise to, at the same time agreed by Major vote that no man should have
liberty to purchase more than one of the above said lotments."

This
petition (the original of which is in the State Library) states these reasons
why this sale of Indian land was considered advisable: that there were two
tracts of land belonging to the Indians, in said society, one of which,
containing about 200 acres, was in the center of the society, encompassing the
meeting house, and lying upon both sides of the highway, running through the
parish, and also that the tribe for whom the reservation was intended "have in
the course of time suffered the common fate of the Indian natives of this
country and are reduced to a very small number."

In 1764, the tribe
numbered 30 or 40 persons. Only two squaws and their three children, however,
remained in Chatham, the others having removed to Hartford or joined the Mohegan
or Farmington Indians.

In 1765, a committee was appointed "to sell the
land, and use the proceeds for the benefit of the Indians." They reported that
they had on hand funds to the amount of £163 19s. in Continental bills, and
about £100 in obligations, not yet collected. By 1772, over £90 of this sum had
been spent for the support of old Mary CUSCHOY, one of the two squaws just
mentioned, the "blind and aged widow of CUSCHOY, late sachem." The remainder of
this fund was doubtless laid out for the benefit of the Indians in various ways.

In 1785, a committee was appointed by the Legislature "to collect all
the money due on the Indian lands at Wangonk and pay it over to the
proprietors."

The last member of the tribe was "Old Betty," who lived at
Pequin or "Betty's Hill" as late as 1830.

For more than 80 years the
Indians lived among the whites in this town. While they were the most numerous
it dos not appear that they ever used their power to the injury of the settlers.
There are no bloody traditions of murdered settlers or burning cabins. They
constantly dwindled in number, but remained quiet and gentle, unless under the
influence of undue "fire water" or a frenzied "powwow," -amenable to the laws,
and treated with kindness and consideration. Much of this part of their history
is necessarily but the fain echo of tradition. The number of Indians who settled
upon this reservation on the east side is not known. Twenty signatures are
appended to a deed dated December 1732, now in the possession of Col BARTLITT.
The names are as follow: Mamoson, Betty, Cuschoy, Moses MOXON, James Charles
ROBBIN, young Sean, Long Simon, young Betty, Sary, Mesooggosk, Shimmoon, Moses
COMSHOT, Jacob, Tom ROBBIN, young squamp, Muschoise, John ROBBIN, Metowhump, and
Mequash hest; Siana, Sansennk, and Nannemaroos have been mentioned as owners of
Wangunk Meadow.

Tradition says that Mamoson was a great chief, and lived
in the lower part of the town. There need be no surprise, therefore, that many
communications received through the medium of the once popular Planchette bore
his signature.

Cuschoy is mentioned in official documents of 1756 as the
"only sachem left" of the Wangunk tribe, "a lame man and not able to travel
much."

"Doctor ROBBIN" is also mentioned in the records as the "last
sachem of the Middletown Indians." The only son of his daughter (not his son as
has been said), was Richard RANNY, "positively the last" sachem of the Wangunks.
He was brought up among the whites, who taught him to read and write the English
language. He learned the joiner's trade, was baptized (perhaps with the name of
his benefactor), and became a professor of religion.

"Long Simon," or
"Jo Simon." Used neither the + mark nor his savage totem, like the rest, but
wrote a bold signature thus, SIMON. He was probably the Simon CHOYCHOY who was
one of the councilors of the Mohegan sachem, Ben UNCAS, and he is frequently
mentioned in the Indian papers.

"Sary," or Sarah SIMON is frequently
mentioned in the day book of Ebenezer WHITE, in 1744, as also is CUSCHAW and
CUSCHOY. These were the old sachem and one of the squaws who were supported by
the town.

One of these Indians, at least, must have been of the royal
Mohegan blood, as Mukchoise signs with the totem of Oweneco III.

"Young
Betty" was probably, the squaw whom some still living can remember as "old
Betty;" bent, white haired, her dark skin almost blanched by age, living in a
but on the spot still called "Betty's Hill." Every year, while she lived, the
Indians of the tribe living in other places used to visit her. One citizen of
the town vividly remembers seeing the Indians approaching his grandmother's
house, on their way to see Betty. Indians were associated, in his youthful mind,
with war whoops, tomahawks, and glittering knives; so he promptly removed his
imperiled scalp to the darkest corner under grandmother's bed, whence, after
much reassuring argument, he was coaxed to see the Indians prepare their supper.
They brought large stones to the house and heated them red hot, them placed them
in their kettle, filled it with water, which immediately boiled, and poured from
sacks which they had brought on their shoulders in abundance of young turtles;
which, when cooked, they scraped from the shells and ate. There is a story
extant of old Betty, illustrating the weak but familiar saying, that "the truth
should not be told at all times," at least, not too soon after dinner. A
gentleman while hunting or looking over his land, dropped in upon old Betty
about noon. She was known as a famous cook, especially of fish and game; and her
invitation to dine was accepted without hesitation. She placed a dish of savory
eels before him, and he ate heartily, and enjoyed the meal; but, alas! He must
ask old Betty where she got them. She answered calmly, "plenty black snake on
the ledge." Pointing to a pile of heads which were too serpentine to leave room
for doubt. "The untutored mind" of the Indian could not apprehend delicate
distinctions, and a contemporary remarked that the Indians were very fond of
snakes.

One of the Wangunks, known as Indian Thomas, was a soldier in
the Revolution, and a pensioner, perhaps a descendant of that Thomas the Indian
whom the town of Middletown, in 1657, voted to accept as an inhabitant "if they
could agree upon terms."

An Indian named John CUTCHOYUE is remembered to
have visited this place from Long Island in 1822.

Not many years ago, a
row of Indian "fire places," or rings of stones inside of which they built their
fires, still remained at the fish place, showing where their wigwams had stood.
It is said that the house of the sachem, or perhaps the council lodge, stood on
the corner now occupied by Mr. HUBBARD's house, opposite GILDERSLEEVE's store.
The lot back of Newman GOFF's is still called "hot house lot," from its being
the place of an ancient Indian "sanitarium," made by digging in the river bank a
hole, in which was placed a hot stone, the top being covered with boughs or a
blanket, over which the Indian was placed.

After a profuse perspiration
had in this way been induced, the occupant rushed out and into the river. This
mode of treatment was used by the Indians in nearly all cases of sickness; but
however successful it may have been at times, it was manifestly improper as a
cure for small-pox, and when this disease raged among them, very many lost their
lives by this "hydropathic" method.

Indian Hill was also the burial
place of the chiefs after they made their home on this side of the river. One,
at least, of the royal Mohegan blood was buried here. Tradition assets that he
was visiting the Wangunks and died of small-pox. His tombstone was standing but
a few years ago, and was seen by many. The inscription copied by Dr. Field in
1853, was this: "Here lies the body of John ONEKOUS, who died August the 39th
1722, aged 26 years." Three graves were opened on Indian Hill, in the spring of
1808, one of a man and two of children.

"The man was placed sitting,
wrapped in a blanket (which was not entirely consumed, but upon exposure to the
air, became as brunt straw); in his lap were two small brass kettles, probably
filled with soup or succotash at the time of burial, one of which had sunk down
into the other, in which were a spoon, knife, phial, and pipe. His arm extended
round the kettles, and where the flesh cam in contact with the brass, from the
elbow to the wrist, the flesh was preserved. In the hand of one of the children
was found a brass cup, of the size of a tea cup, and here again the flesh on the
fingers was preserved, where they came against the brass. Around the wrist was
wampum, strung on deer string, and near by beads, supposed to have been placed
about the neck. In the grave of the other child was a coffee box containing
wampum."

Years ago, when the roads were worked, the school children
sometimes picked up a pint of these beads at a time. It is conjectured that the
point must have been the scene of an Indian battle, so many arrows have been
found here. Their burial place was further east, near where Mr. John LEWIS's
house stands, under the chimney of which, it is said, is the skeleton of a
gigantic Indian, whose bones were not disturbed, though exposed. Indian Hill no
doubt has many other graves. Indian arrows, etc., are frequently picked up. Mr.
C. NEFF has a fine collection, made within the last two years.

Indian
Hill was also the place where they held their grand "pow-wows:" trying by dances
and incantations to conciliate or communicate with the evil spirit. As they
believed the good spirit was too good to hurt anybody, it was not considered
necessary to pay so much attention to him, though they made an annual feast to
thank him for bountiful harvests, etc. There is a rock by the river, just by the
ice house of GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, always known as "Devil's Rock." It bears a
mark somewhat resembling a large footprint, and the legend tells that once, when
a great pow-wow was in progress, the evil spirit, being invoked, rushed up from
the "Blow hole" in a whirlwind, seized a young Indian and jumped off the rock
with him into the river; leaving the impression of his foot upon the rock. There
is an account of one of their pow-wows in DE FOREST's "History of the Indians of
Connecticut." In 1734, a man named Richard TREAT attempted to educate the
Wangunks. He instructed 12 or 14 children, and held also a meeting for religious
instruction for such of the Indians as would attend. At the end of four months,
however, finding no one disposed to assist or reward him, he gave up his
efforts.

He found the Wangunks without the most elemental knowledge of
the Christian religion or scriptures. He "was obliged in his controversies with
them to appeal to such principles of morality and natural religion as they held
among themselves." He was also hindered by their imperfect understanding of
English as well as by their aversion to the humbling doctrines of Christianity.
He met with many rebuffs and much discouragement. A writer of those days
declared that:

"The Indians are famous, especially for there Scandalous
Qualities; They are Lazy Drones and love Idleness Exceedingly, they are also
most impudent Lyars and will invent Reports and Stories at a strange and
monstrous rate; and they are out of measure Indulgent unto their Children, there
is no Family government among them."

Soon after his school and religious
services had been given up, TREAT visited the tribe, and found them holding a
grand funeral dance. There was a great uproar; all were frantically dancing,
yelling, and calling upon the evil spirit for some communication in reference to
the deceased Indian, who was supposed to have been poisoned or bewitched. Mr.
TREAT rushed among them, and by vigorous exertions, corporeal and spiritual,
succeeded in breaking up the orgy. Though they at first told him he should not
preach, and even threatened personal violence, in order to get rid of him they
promised, if he would go to a clump of trees at a little distance, they would
come and listen to him. When he withdrew, however, the pow-wowing recommenced.
He renewed his remonstrances, and the same transparent ruse was used to insure
his absence. But at last the Indians, "wearied by his persistence, or having
obtained all the information form infernal sources they desired, desisted, and
this has been called their last pow-wow;" but a trustworthy tradition says, that
after most of the Wangunks had scattered among other tribes, they would
occasionally return and hold a pow-wow under the Great Elm, near St. John's
Chapel.

The morning a party of them were removing to the Western
Reserve, they told Mr. STEWARD, "Indian spirits cry, cry, in the woods all
night." Indian names of places are very expressive and beautiful. Pacansett
means, "the place where a strait widens;" naag, "a point of land;" pasinchoag,
"meadow on the northside of a creek." Wangunk has been defined Mesawmesick,
Mesomesick, and Mesomussuck, &c. Mr. J. Hammond TRUMBULL translates thus:
Massa-Monussuck, a hill or declivity; literally, "a great down-going." In Mr.
TRUMBULL's book on Indian names, he quotes Dr. CHAPIN's interpretation, viz.,
"great rattlesnake place," or "abundance of rattlesnakes," a name so appropriate
we could wish it more correct. The interpretation which generally obtains among
our citizens is this: An Indian was sent to view the place, it having been
proposed to the Indians to live there; he returned saying, "me saw me sick."

EARLY
SETTLERS.

Land was
granted, on the east side the river, to William CORNWELL and Robert WEBSTER, as
early as 1653, and John HALL and Nathaniel WHITE owned land there at that time.
"Att a towne meeting Ferbarrary 21st 1658 the towne did chuse Samuel STOCKIN,
Natt BACON, Ickbord WARNER, fore committee to vewe the upland uppone the east
side of the great River, in order to ane equall divition, as the towne shal give
them order," and 24 men are mentioned who whould have "them equall proportion of
the divition."

In 1666, the town voted "that for this present yere
insuing all improved land for corne and gras on the east side of the great
river, shall be free from molestation by cattel or cretres belonging to the
towne as it has bene heretofore, and cattel which shall treapas heare shall be
poundable," and John SAVAGE was appointed pounder for the other side. Some,
however, seemed to object to the pound, and a fine was collected of one who
pulled it down. Perhaps for this reason it was, in 1670, voted "That ye east
side the River should stil be deemed to ly as a common field." But in 1701-2,
the pound was erected "near the hous of John GILL," and it was ordered "that
this should be the place for branding all horse kind on that side." The owners
of these lands may have cultivated them, coming over in boats and returning to
Middletown at night. There is a tradition that two men swam over from Cromwell,
with their clothes in a bundle on their heads, and back at evening.

There is certainly some reason to suppose that there were several
settlers on the east side before the year 1700, but there is only record of
three.

The first inhabitant of Portland mentioned is James STANCLIFF.
February 24th 1686-7, the town "approved of the agreement made by the selectmen
with James STANCLIFF, concerning the building the chimneys, and other stone
work, and that when the work is finished the town empower the selectmen to give
the said James STANCLIFF legal assurance of a parcel of land upon the rocks,
according to their agreement;" and it was recorded to James STANCLIFF, May 3d
1690, "on a small parcel of land on the east side the great River, Lying upon
the Rocks, containing fourty nine rods, Lying in a square, being seaven Rods in
breath, & seaven Rods in Length, measured from the top of the bank of the
River and so easward seaven Rods bounded on the great River west, and on the
Common or town land east, north, and south." His house stood there, "founded
upon the rock," in 1690. How long it had stood there then there are no means of
knowing. The town, in 1696, granted him another half acre, "on the south side
his lot not intruding upon the Rocks." This house stood on what is now Middlesex
Quarry, and at least some part of it was standing 50 years ago.

John
GILL also built a house upon the bank about the same time, as is supposed, south
and west of Mr. Frank BRAINERD's. This was also standing in a dilapidated
condition, within the memory of some still living. These houses had probably
been altered and added to since their original erection, but stood on the same
sites.

William CORNWELL settled back of Wangunk Meadow soon afterward.
The following is a copy of the deed given to him by his father 100 before the
Revolution: "This writing made the fourteenth of November in the yeare on
thougalnd, six hundred, seventy, and six, Between Sargt william CORNWELL Senior
of Midleton in this county of Hartford and colony of connicttectut of the on
part, and his sons william CORNWELL and Samuell CORNWELL of the same towne of
Midleton and county of Hartford and colony of conicttectut on the other part;
Witnesseth that the fore sayd Sargt William CORNWELL for and in consideration of
the full and just sume of eighty pounds sterling to him in hand payd or secured
to be payd before the ensealing hereof and for Diuers other good causes him
their unto mouing haue granted, giuen, Aliened, bargagned, sould, &
confirmed and by these presents Doe fully, clearly, & absolutely giue,
grant, aliene, bargaine, sell enfeoff & confirm unto his sons afore sayd
William and Samuell CORNWELL and to their heirs for euer on parcel of meadow
Land at Womgonk on the east side the great Riuer with the swampe adjoining to it
being about twelue Acres Abutting on undevided Land south and north, and on the
croked brooke west & on the foote of the hill east, and on parcel of playn
land adjoining to the fore sayd meadow and swampe containing abought fifteene
Acres Litle more or lesse Abutting on Samuel CORNWELLs Land south & on
undeuid land north and on the fore sayd meadow and swampe west a& on
undeuided land east and on parcel of meadow at Wongonke commonly called the
Round meadow, being Near six Acres or their abought, part within and part
without the fence which now standeth and the reuertion & reuertions
remainder and remainders Rents & yearly Profits of all & giue these the
sayd premises and euery part & parcel their of to haue and to hold the fore
sayd parcels of Land with all their appurtances before by these presents
bargained, sould, or mentioned intended to be hearby granted, aliened bargained,
sould, and confirmed and euery part & parcel thir of unto the fore sayd
William CORNWELL junior and Samuell CORNWELL their heirs, Executors
Administrators & assign for euer & the sayd Sarg't William CORNWELL at
the time of Ensealing & Deliuery of these presents is & standeth
Lawfully seesed of the premises & that he hath full power and just right to
sell the same and euery part & parcel their of & that the afore sayd
parcels of Land with all their appurtances shall from hence forth for euer
remain and continue unto his sayd sons William and Samuell CORNWELL their heirs,
Executors, Administrators & assigns, fully, freely, & clearly acquitted,
exonourated, & Discharged off & from al & all manner of former &
other bargaines, salles, gifts, grants, Dowers, jointures, Leases, rents,
charges, annuities uses entavls judgements for fitures Executions Instusions,
morgages, fines, Isues amersments & Incombrances what so euer had made
committed or wittingly or willingly Suffered or done by the sayd Sar'nt William
CORNWELL his heirs and assigns or by his or their means, act, consent, purity or
procurement or by any other person or persons what so euer Lawfully clayming
from by or under him them or any of them and that it is Enroled to him in the
Books of records in Midleton and shall be lawful for them the sayd william
CORNWELL & Samuell CORNWELL to alter the Enrolment theirof & to record
the same to them selues their heirs & assigns for euer in Witness where of
the sayd John CORNWELL & John HALL junior by the appointment of their father
Sarg'nt William CORNWELL hee being not able to signe it haue signed sealed and
Deliuered this writing

"John CORNWELL.

"John HALL.

Signed, sealed, & Deliuered in presence of

"John HALL.

"Jonue CORNWELL.

"Acknowledged before me,

"Nath: WHITE,
Comis'nr."

The spot on which he built his house, and which is included
in the above conveyance, is the corner opposite Mr. Den. GOODRICH's on which the
sign post stands.

The settlement grew so that in 1710, 27 men, most of
them heads of families, signed the agreement to build a meeting house. Their
names may be found in the history of the first church. They were all, probably,
from the two first parishes of Middletown. To these were afterward added: Lemuel
LEWIS, from the county of Barnstable, Mass.; John PENFIELD, from Bristol, R. I.;
Joseph BLAGUE, from Saybrook; and John CHURCHILL, from Wethersfield. The record
of these first years in included in the history of the first church and society.
In May 1714, the town of Middletown and the General Assembly "granted the
inhabitants of the east side to be a society by themselves." They formed the
Third Society of Middletown, and all the region comprised in the townships of
Chatham and Portland was then known as East Middletown.

Its citizens
cleared the forests, killed the wild animals, cultivated their fields, and built
their houses, churches, and school houses, as all settlers have done. In solemn
"society or church meeting-for church and town were one-they decided boundaries,
built bridges, and laid out highways, disciplined offenders, elected school
committees, provided "firewood for ye youse of ye school," managed "Pacousett
field," and "carried on the work of the Gospel in an orthodox way."

In
December 1736, it was voted to "prefer a petition to the town of Middletown that
we that are the inhabitants on the east side the great River in Middletown might
have liberty to be a town with all the priviledges of a town by ourselves and
likewise to pursue the petition if the town shall grant us these priviledges to
the Gen. Assembly in May or Oct. next."

Buy not yet was the ambitious
townlet to be loosed from the safe apron-strong of mother Middletown; although
the "great River" rolling between, and the difficulty and danger of its crossing
(hindrances to inter-communication which two centuries have not removed) showed
that its independence was but a matter of time.

November 29th
1757.-"Capt John FISK, Capt John CLARK, and Joseph WHITE were chosen a committee
for to joyn with Middle Haddam and Easthampton in petitioning the town of
Middletown for their consent that we on the east side the great River in
Middletown should be a township by ourselves, provided the place of town
meetings shall never be carried farther Eastward than where Mr. John CHURCHILL
now lives." Ten years after this, the desired consent having been obtained from
Middletown, a petition was preferred to the General Assembly "that the 3d
Society might be a township by themselves, with this condition; that the place
for town meetings and to do all publick business Be attended at our own meeting
house in ye afore said 3d Society."

The original of this petition for
town privileges is now in the State Library in the Capitol at Hartford. It
states the difficulty of transaction public business, "ye other side of ye great
River, not only on account of ye great distance many of he inhabitants dwell
from ye first society, and ye great difficulty that often happens in crossing ye
river to ye great hindrance of business," etc., and furthermore declares that
there were 420 families within the bounds of proposed town. So "att a general
assembly held at Newhaven in Oct. 1767 Chatham was made a town." It took its
name from Chatham, England, in reference to its shipbuilding, then an important
and growing interest in the town.

The first town meeting was held "Dec.
ye 7th 1767. David SAGE, Moderator, Jonathan PENFIELD was chosen clerk and
sworn, Capt. Jeremiah GOODRICH, Dea. Benj. HARRIS, Mr. Silas DUNHAM, Mr.
Ebenezer WHITE, Mr. Abiel CHENY were the selectmen." There were also elected,
constables, listers (assessors) grand jurors, tything men, collectors, a
committee to settle with Middletown, highway surveyors, fence viewers, leather
sealers, hog haywards, and a committee to lay out the highways. It may be said
here that the qualifications for freemen were "that they be of a peaceable and
civil conversation and otherwise qualified by law." Town meetings were held at
the meeting house of the 1st Society until the 8th of April 1799, when they met
in the (then) "new town house," on PENFIELD Hill. This stood on the corner
opposite Mrs. Van VECTENS, and it is remembered by a few of our elders as the
"old town house." Though small and inadequate, it was used till 1841, when
Portland was set off, and the Episcopal society gave their old church edifice to
the town for a town house, and it has so remained.

In the old map or
chart of Chatham, made by Ebenezer WHITE (1st) in 1767, is found the settlement
back from the river on the hills, where now in the pastures may be seen old
cellars and patches of lilac and asparagus, far from any habitation. In the
woods near Captain Harley CASE's may be seen the ruined foundations of 25 or 30
houses; the owners of which many years ago emigrated to regions more favorable
to farming operations. The best preserved of these (though a ruin) is just
beyond Captain CASE's, that of his grandfather, and here stood the well whose
"old oaken bucket" figured in the Centennial as the bucket from which General
Washington drank, while on his way to New York. To return to the old chart, two
ferries are marked, one from the foot of the lane by Mr. Joseph GLADWIN's, to
Cromwell, which was much more used than at present; the other at Brush Pond-some
distance below the railroad track, running to Ferry street, in Middletown. The
main road ran from the ferry through Pacasuett, over "Hall Hill" to PENFIELD
Hill, and on past Mr. Lucius STEWART's. It is here marked the Pacausett and New
London Turnpike. This highway was laid out in 1659. There were two quarries:
"Brush Pond Quarry," below the railroad, and "Shailor and Hall Quarry." There
were a few houses at that end of the town, but the "main street" was an
uninhabited highway. "LEWIS' yard" occupied the place very nearly that
GILDERSLEEVE's now does. There were several houses here, as this was then the
principal industry of the town. The only "meeting house" (the second built by
the First Society) stood upon its hill in solitary state.

Slavery
existed to a certain extent. Every prominent family owned one or more Negroes,
who were well cared for and kindly treated. "Guinea" was a Negro owned by the
Rev. Mr. BARTLETT. When nearly a century old he came back and boasted to an
incredulous generation of having himself reaped and threshed four hundred
bushels of grain on "Hall Hill." Cato and Phyllis were two servants of Ebenezer
WHITE. A sketch of Cato is obtained by snatches, from Mr. WHITE's journal. That
he was a favored servant may be inferred from the fact that on several occasions
when "Cato's teeth ached" "he did nothing that day." Cato may be followed
through the pages of this diary as he dresses flax, goes to Great Hill for
shingle stuff, lath stuff, and timber for cart hubs; as he mows, and hoes, and
reaps, and cuts wood for ye fires, but on the 4th of June 1781, "Self and Cato
went to Hartford. Cato Inlisted in ye Continental Service in ye Connt Line for
ye term of three years. I gaue a bill of Sale of him to Capt. Nehemiah LYON of
Woodstock and said LYON Gaue him on consideration of his sd Cato Inlisting as
one of ye Cota of ye town of Woodstock a Bill of Emancipation." The 8th of June
is the entry, "this is the last day Cato worked for me." Every reader will be
glad to learn that on the 6th of June 1783, "Cato came home being Discharged
from ye Army." After this he took up his old duties, but received wages, and was
called "Cato FREEMAN." The following is a bill of sale of a negro girl bought by
Mr. Michael STEWART, who was the owner of several slaves: "Know all men by these
presents that I Matthew TALCOTT of Midleton in the County of Hartford in the
Colony of Connecticut, in consideration of the Sum of Seventy Pounds Current
Money to me in hand paid by Michael STEWART of Colchester in the county and
colony aforesd the Rect whereof I the said Matthew TALCOTT do hereby acknowledge
and Do Bargain, Sell, Convey, and Confirm unto the said Michael STEWART his
heirs and assigns one negro girl named Flora aged about eighteen years to have
and to hold the said Negro Girl named Flora unto the said Michael STEWART his
heirs and assigns to his and their own sole, and proper use, benefit and behoof
and I the said Mathew TALCOTT do Covenant for my Self, my heirs, Executors, and
Administrators to and with the s'd Michael STEWART his heirs and assigns in
manner and form following that is to Say that att and untile the Ensealing of
these presents I am the true, sole, and lawful owner of the said Negro Girl
named Flora and have good Right to sell and dispose of s'd Girl as afores'd free
from all incumbrances, and further more I the said Matthew TALCOTT do promise
for myself and my heirs to warrant and defend the s'd Negro Girl Flora unto the
said Michael STEWART his heirs and assigns against all lawful claim, it witness
whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal this 3d Day of December Anna Dom:
1741.

"Mathew TALCOTT.

"Signed, Sealed and Delivered in presence
of

"John RICHARD, Anne RICHARDS."

Some idea may be gathered of
what it was to build a house in those days, from the old journals before
referred to. February 7th 1774, the chimney having first been built, they went
to Great Hill to get the frame of the house, and the splitting of lath and
sawing of clapboards went on until August 13th, when they were making window
frames and lath for "ye negro rooms;" the 17th, they laid the parlor floor;
September 26th, Ever STOCKING was laying the chamber floor, lathing, painting,
and making "ye closets." It took him one day to make a door. The house was ready
for occupancy some time in October. This house, which it took eight months to
build with no lack of workmen, apparently has lasted just a century. It is
probably the house in which Edgar HALE now lives. Another house was built in
1788, perhaps that now occupied by Mr. KILBY. The old SAGE house belongs to this
time. It was built about 150 years ago, and long occupied by Deacon David SAGE.
It stands on the hill just east of the Congregational parsonage. The frame of
the house in which Mr. D. GOODRICH lives is very old. It was formerly the "old
CHURCHHILL place." It has been kept in such good repair that few would think of
its century and a half. The oldest house in town is the one in which Mr. Horace
WILCOX now lives; it is more than 200 years old. Every nail in its clapboards
was wrought by hand. Mr. D. GOODRICHES', formerly the CHURCHILL house, is about
as old, at least the frame, but has not been kept in repair. The house now
occupied by Mr. Jerry BUTTON is more than a century old.

The first
tavern was near Glastonbury, kept by Asaph ABBEY. Zebulon PENFIELD kept one on
PENFIELD Hill, a hundred years ago, and the hotel kept by a Mr. WILLIAMS, in the
building now occupied by Mr. BRANSFIELD, is of still more recent date; it was
given up less than 40 years since. Reverence has been made to the journals of
Hon. Ebenezer WHITE, one of the most distinguished citizens of the town in early
days. This record covers 60 years of a very busy life. He began when a young man
of 28, under the rule of "Our Sovereign Lord, George" etc., and laid down his
pen a citizen of a country to the freedom of which he had contributed in many
ways. There is but one break in this record, but that an unfortunate one. The
books were lent, and when returned the one from 1775 to 1779 was missing. It is
thought that a few extracts will be interesting to many. The first given related
to incongruous, but simultaneous occurrences. "Daniel White is one year old
to-day, and this day is ye terrible fight at Lake George." A month later,
October 1755, they were "moeing for Capt SAVAGE" and "planting Sergt GIBBS field
for ry." These men were with the army. "First Day of April 1756 now men are a
Listing to go into ye War in our Government's service." "April ye 12th I took ye
Freemans oath." "ye 26th warning a muster." "May ye 3d Viewing Arms." 6th of May
1782 "Self Drawed attachment for ---- then Drawed Deed for ----- Drawed warrant
against-----planted corn. Danl gone to Training this p. m." All this "Drawing"
in a day.

"22d of October Self pulling beans, and Tryd Case for profane
Swearing." "11th December 1783 this is Thanksgiving Day throughout ye United
States for a General peace." "13th September 1785 This day Nabby went on a
Voyage to Boston." Just before this great event there was bought in Middletown
"4 ½ yards Merene at three shillings a yard," and "two lutestring gowns at
Hartford." "15th day of July 1792, Sabbath; Mr. MORTON preached his first
Performance in ye pulpit."

Throughout the journals the Sabbath days are
marked by a star, and the texts carefully noted, sometimes with a remark, as, "a
laboured sermon," a "painful sermon," &c. "17th of September 1793 Rainy
forenoon; afternoon training, Captains BIDWELL and AMES with ye Compy meet at ye
Meeting House." "4th Day of July 1798. This Day the people make a great Fuz
about Independence & Burnt much Powder." "8th of April 1799. This day ye
freemen to ye number of about two hundred and sixty met in ye new town house ye
first time." "Feb. 22d 1800. Self attending the meeting for celebrating the
death of Gen WASHINGTON as recommended by the president. Mr. STRONG delivered a
sermon." "10th Day of Aprill 1800 this Day ye Female meeting at Mr. STRONGs with
their Compliment." "May 24 1801 Mr. STRONG preach'd a funeral Sermon on ye
account of Wm. DIXON jr being drowned by turning ye anker out of ye boat." "7th
of July 1803 Dan'l and Bragg mow'd all Siah meadow on ye north of ye great ditch
from ye East end to ye old WARNER line; they Soposed they mow'd abt 5 ½ acres."
This has come down to posterity as a wonderful feat with the scythe.

"Nov 15th 1804 this day Dan'l a son born wh he calls Ebenezer." "July
4th 1805 this is my birth Day which completes my 78th year." After this, the
entries are more scattering, the firm, clear handwriting so familiar to those
who study the early records of our town, grow fainter and more uncertain.

Here are few prices gathered from old account books; a bill of 1761:

"Return MEGGS Dr.

"To 22 loads of wood drawed to ye river

£

s.

d.

nere HURLBURTS as me a Greed

2

15

0

"Credit to one Beaver hat

1

14

0

"to one Castor hat

1

00

0

"2

14

0"

Two loads of wood were balanced by a pair of shoes:

"Sent by Mr. GILL to New York to be layed

£

s.

d.

out in books

3

4

0"

"1 baylies dicionary

2

"WATT's logick

7

6

"Every man his own lawyer.

9"

"One hard and
nale of Taffety, £3 5s'" two handkerchiefs "for one own youse," one shilling ten
pence apiece. A pound of butter cost three pence. Rum was plenty and cheap;
brought from New York it was two shillings seven pence a gallon. In 1780, an
ounce of Peruvian bark cost $12, and a "viol of Balsam of honey bought at
Hartford $40." These high prices were partly owing to the depreciation of
Continental money. Shad could be bought for three pence. "7 wgt of sugar for a
hard dollar; one pound tobacco, three pence; two oz. Pepper, one shilling four
pence; an iron kettle; seventeen shillings; frying pan, £1; 1 pare shoe buckles,
4s; 10d.; one sword, £3; 10s; 3 ½ yds of blue cloth for a coat at 15s. a yard; 1
pare worsted stockings, 18s.

To close this account of the early history
of the town a few weather notes gathered partly from the journals, and party
form other sources are given.

In 1755, this section suffered from a
severe drought. November 18th 1755, "two hours before day was a terrible
earthquake."

The 19th of May 1780, there was "thunder and rain in the
morning; it slaked raining perhaps about 9 of ye clock and then came on a
Darkness and continued until about ye middle of ye Day; he whole face of ye sky
was of a yellowish Cast, and even ye Air to y't Degree as a to Color Cloths that
were abroad and so Dark y't ye school was Dismissed, ye children could not see
to read. It appeared to be Cloudy, no great wind nor rain, and spoke of as ye
most rare Phenomenon, and many much Surprised and put y'm in mind of ye Day of
Judgment." This was the "Dark Day" when the Connecticut Legislature refused to
adjourn.

Here are a few snow days: January 9th 1780, "so Exceeding deep
and drifted was ye snow that not one half was rode to ye meeting and it was most
exceeding cold, sharp, and severe that ever I knew." We know it was no ordinary
storm which could keep the early inhabitants from the "meeting." It even blocked
the wheels of State. "Jan. 12th," writes the honorable member of the General
Assembly from Chatham, "I wait at Hartford until night, no Assembly, ye Govenr
not come to town and but few of ye members, by reason of ye great snow, and no
paths." The next Sabbath even "only a few with great difficulty got to ye
Meeting house." This winter is mentioned, by several writers, as unusually
severe throughout New England. In July 1779, a sever hail storm passed over
Chatham at the time of rye harvest. "It destroyed the grain in its course, broke
windows, and left marks on buildings and fences which could be seen a year
afterwards." The hail appeared to be uneven pieces of ice, many of them nearly
as large as a hen's egg.

May 5th 1780, a frost killed beans and squashes
and "ye name of ye corn." The 20th of May 1795, there was also a hard frost,
which was credited with killing the canker worms, along with all other tender
things. The 8th of May 1803, "was a Storm of snow in such quantity that by 10
o'clock its depth on the ground was four inches. My family rode to meeting in a
slay. Remarkable to see fruit trees all in blossom and loaded with snow."

The most remarkable freshets which are recorded as occurring in Chatham
are as follows: December 1703, the meadows were "alarmingly flooded." The 11th
of February 1781, was an "exceeding high flood." July 13th 1795, there was for
24 hours, "an excessive rain, water covers all ye lower swamp so that ye bridge
floats. The upper swamp is covered one foot and a half deep at our west end and
ye whole of our meadow except ye highway noles."

From December 14th
1800, the 25th of the same month, there "was no passing across ye meadow."

Twentieth of March 1801, "Last night the water rose as it is said six
feet perpendicular; and now ye water is above ye post fence at ye meadow gate.
The oldest man Living does not remember such a sudden Rise of water & so
great at this time of year."

"The 1st of April the water was found to be
two feet deep on the top of the highest knoll, and the waters were so high and
violent that they tore the banks to pieces in many places."

There was
also a remarkable flood in October 1843, at the time the corn was being gathered
in. The water rose so fast that in a few hours the bridges were covered and the
meadow was impassible, except by boats. The men worked all night, part of the
time in boats, to save the crop of corn.

The freshet of 1854 was the
most remarkable within the memory of living men. "Strickland street" was
flooded, and the shipyard was under water. John MCKAY, who lived in the house
now occupied by Mrs. LAWRENCE, on the river bank, died. William NORCOTT and
others took the coffin out of the window into a boat and carried it to Henry
CONKLIN's house, where the funeral services were held. The coffin was again put
in the boat and rowed to the steps of the eastern (Center) church. At the same
time the quarries were flooded, and the water rose to the second story of many
houses on the sandbank, and pigs' noses could be seen sticking out of garret
windows. In 1816, it is said, there was a frost in some part of the town at
least every month in the year. But the last frosts of May 29th and June 1884,
were the more distructive and later in the season than any recorded in the town.

The coldest day on record in this town was January 27th 1873. The
thermometer indicated a temperature of 29° below zero.

INDIAN
WARS.

Although this
part of Connecticut did not suffer from Indian depredations and cruelty as had
other parts, the people here furnished men to assist their more afflicted
brethren, rightly considering, says an old writer, "that if the fire of this
were not timely extinguished it would endanger their own fabrick." Major John
SAVAGE was a distinguished Indian fighter. The old Narrative of the Indian Wars
speaks of "Ensign SAVAGE, that young martial spark, scarce twenty years of age,
had at one time one bullet lodged in his thigh, another shot through the brim of
his hat by ten or twelve of the enemy discharging upon him together, while he
boldly held up his colors in the front of his company." He died in Chatham, in
1775. It is said there was a tract of land set off to him, in Virginia, as a
reward for his services. The only son of Rev. Mr. NEWELL fell in battle, some
time in 1755. How many men went from Chatham to join the expedition against
Canada cannot be certainly known. In April 1756, men enlisted in Chatham, and
"June ye 16th they marched for Crown Point." Several from this town were at the
assault on Quebec. The following letter, preserved in the Sage family, mentioned
three of these: "Dec. 24, 1775. To Esqr. Sage.

"I write a word to inform
you of us here at Quebeck, the notice is short and David not Present, but he is
well and harty; but has been sick, but I think I never saw him for fleshe,
father can inform you of our travel and affairs. The men that came from Chatham
are all well and harty but Goff and he will soon be so; but I fear the Small Pox
will be too frequent among us for good.

"Sam'll COOPER."

Richard
STRICKLAND fought at Quebec, and died on the way home, of small-pox contracted
camp. Lieutenant David SAGE (who is mentioned in the letter) was wounded at the
time of the assault. He afterward died of small-pox, and was buried under the
walls. Captain HANCHETT, Lieutenant SAVAGE, James KNOWLES, and others from
Chatham, were present at the siege.

THE
REVOLUTION.

At the first
sign of the coming conflict with Great Britain the men of Chatham prepared to
assist their brethren and assert their own rights by appointing a vigilant
committee of 11 to carry out the recommendations of Congress for "non
importation, non exportation, and non consumption of British goods." Chatham
took prompt action upon all the recommendations of the General Assembly or the
Council of Safety, and assisted in the struggle for liberty as well with stout
supporters of the government at home, as with fighting men abroad. They took the
oath of fidelity to the State as is shown by the records; 62 voters taking this
oath at one time, administered by Ebenezer WHITE, and 58 at another time, and by
tens and dozens all through the early years of the war. Marcy 17th 1777, the
town appointed a committee, and directed them to engage on behalf of the town to
provide necessaries for the families of the soldiers belonging thereto, "who
shall engage and go into any of the Continental battalions, agreeable to the
recommendation of his honor, the Governor and Committee of Safety in a
proclamation." Also voted "that the soldiers enlisted into the Continental Army
shall be provided with necessaries and committees appointed in every parish to
procure such necessaries." It was also voted to provide clothing for continental
soldiers.

The selectmen for the year 1777, where Ebenezer WHITE, David
SAGE, Col. John PENFIELD, Enoch SMITH, Deacon David SMITH, John HINCKLEY, and
William WELSH.

April 19th 1779, it was "voted that the Committee of
Supply shall have liberty to draw money from the town treasury to provide for
families of Continental soldiers," and the town treasurer should borrow money if
needful to supply the committee of supply. Capt. Joseph CHURCHILL, Deacon
Jeremiah BRADFORD, and John NORTON were this committee of supply.

January 5th 1779, Ebenezer WHITE paid $160 for eight bushels of wheat
"for ye Continental service." It was voted that the selectmen of the town should
class the inhabitants in as many classes as there were soldiers to provide for,
and each class to provide for one. The selectmen this year were Dr. Moses
BARTLETT, Col. John PENFIELD, Capt. Joseph KELLOGG, Deacon David SMITH, Capt.
Joseph DART, Capt. Silas DUNHAM, Capt. Timothy PERCIVAL.

In the year
1780, £200 a year was voted for the families of those soldiers who had enlisted
for the war, and £50 for those who had enlisted for three years only, to be
drawn from the town treasury by the committee of supply; and more money could be
drawn if this were insufficient. It was also voted to tax the inhabitants of the
town to raise a bounty to encourage soldiers to enlist for three years or during
the war.

November 14th 1780, was a town meeting "for ye purpose of
raising Provision & filling up ye Continental Army." A tax of six pence on
the pound on the list of the town was voted to provide provisions for
Continental soldiers. A committee was appointed to ascertain the number of
soldiers in service and to class the town. This committee consisted of "Cols.
PENFIELD and BLAGUE and Lieut. SMITH before mentioned, and Hez'h GOODRICH Doct.
Jer'h BRADFORD, Capt. Daniel BRAINARD, Capt. Elijah COOK, Capt. Bryan PARMELEE,
Capt. Stephen BRAINARD."

These quotations from the records *[For other
extracts from the records see history of the town of Chatham.] are sufficient to
prove that Chatham nobly did its part in filling up the Continental armies with
good soldiers, relieving them at the same time of all anxiety in regard to the
care of their families in their absence, and strengthened the government by
every available means.

Now it is purposed to follow, as well as may be
by means of vague and meager records, some of the soldiers who left their homes
in Chatham to join the Continental armies at the front. At the time of the
"Lexington Alarm," in April 1775. Capt. Silas DUNHAM marched whose names have
been found on an old pay roll in the State Archives. Timothy PERCIVAL was
lieutenant; Isaac KNEELAND, clerk; Marcus COLE, sergeant. The privates were:
Stephen OLMSTEAD, Ralph SMITH, Samuel KILBOURN, Samuel HALL, David HALL, Caleb
COOK, John JOHNSON, Nehemiah DAY, Silvanus FREEMAN, William WHITE, Samuel
SEXTON, Benjamin KNEELAND, Thomas HILL, Daniel CLARK, Amos CLARK, Elijah CLARK,
Hezekiah GOFF, Samuel FREEMAN, William BEVIN, Daniel PARK, Elijah BALY, Daniel
MARCHALL, Lazerous WATROUS, Nathaniel MARKHAM, Elisha CORNWELL, John NORTON,
Ezra ACKLEY, David CASWELL, Ezra PURPLE, Joshua BAILY, James JOHNSON, jr.,
Nathaniel GANSEY, Ithamar PELTON. They were five days in service on this
expedition. In May 1775, the companies of Chatham were joined to those of
Middletown to form the Twenty-third Regiment. During the year 1776, many from
this town were serving in the army, no less than five drafts being made that
year on the militia of Connecticut. Each officer and soldier was to be allowed
1s., 6d. for each gun and bayonet used in the service, and for the use of each
blanket, 3s. August 20th of this year, Chatham had an order from the General
Court for 300 pounds of powder. February 28th 1776, the governor and council
decided that the frigate of twenty-eight guns to be built in this state should
be built at Chatham on the Conn. River;" and September 20th of that year the
overseers of the furnace at Salisbury were ordered to deliver to the agents for
building the Continental ship at Chatham "twenty-four twelve-pounders, and four
six-pounders by their paying at the rate of £3., 10s. per hundred weight for the
twelve-pounders and £4 per hundred for the less cannon.

In August 1776,
the militia companies of Chatham were ordered to New York. They were also
ordered to Rhode Island, Long Island, and the western borders of their own
State. June 27th 1780, the militia of Chatham marched to defend West Point fort
under Captain BRAINERD. They held themselves ready to march at an hour's warning
to any threatened point. Great were the privations and hardships of these
soldiers, who were called to leave their families and business, even were they
permitted to return, but what shall be said of the distress of those who were so
unfortunate as to be taken prisoners? The number of those who died in the "Old
Jersey" and other British prisons can never be known. Their sufferings can be
inferred from the fact that few of those who escaped or who lived to be
released, survived long the effects of their terrible imprisonment. Thomas DEAN,
a youth of sixteen, died soon after reaching his home "from the effects of a
cruel imprisonment;" and there lies in the cemetery near the Center church the
grave of Samuel BOARDMAN, "who in 11 days after his Captivity in New York
departed this life Jan 12th 1777, aged 20 years." One hundred of the officers
and men of the sloop of war Sampson were from Chatham. These were consigned to
the Old Jersey, and many perished from cold, and hunger, and the want of the
necessaries of life. Timothy CORNWALL, Isaac BUCK, David SAGE, --- BARTLITT,
Lemuel LEWIS, and others died from sickness or in prison. Moses PELTON is said
to have been killed in the war. It is impossible to obtain the names of those
who fell in battle as no list or record of names was kept. At the end of the
church record of deaths for the year 1775, of the First Society, is the laconic
announcement, "3 died in the Army," and in the year 1776. "13 died in the Army
in different States." Yet the full names of all the "infant sons" and "infant
daughters" who died at home are carefully set down by the pastor. We who grope
too late among the dusty relics of the century gone can only snatch from obivion
here a name, there a half forgotten incident. Not one of the grand names of
those who first launched our Ship of State should have been lost, yet
great-grandchildren scarce know of the heroic sire, whose deeds and sacrifices
should bear fruit in a race higher, nobler than common men. Those three who fell
at Lexington or Bunker Hill, foremost among Liberty's martyrs, the 13 heroes of
'76, we shall never know their names, their only monument shall be the wide,
free country for which their lives were the first installment of the great price
to be paid.

A list of Revolutionary soldiers who lived to return home,
or who were afterward pensioned, is more easily obtained, through not without
much research, and it is probably incomplete.

Gen. Seth OVERTON served
his country in many ways though he saw little or no active service in the field.
He was agent for the government in contracting for the ship Connecticut, which
was built in this town.

Col. John PENFIELD died February 22d 1797, aged
66.

Col. Joseph BLAGUE was a Continental officer. He commanded a company
in the battle of Saratoga. He then bore the rank of captain, but was afterward
promoted for gallant services. General LAFAYETTE gave him, in the presence of
WASHINGTON, a beautiful sword as an expression of esteem for him as an officer.

Lieutenant, afterward Captain, Daniel STEWART, served through the war.
Through the courtesy of Mr. Lucius STEWARD, the writer has been permitted to
examine two of his commissions. The first is copied entire:

"Jonathan
TRUMBULL Esq. Capt. General and Commander in Chief of His Majesty's colony of
Connecticut in New England; to Daniel STEWART Gent., Greeting,

"You
being by the General Assembly of this colony accepted to be Ensign of the
Seventeenth Company or Trainband in the Sixth Regiment in this colony;

"Reposing special Trust and Confidence in your Loyalty, Courage, and
Good Conduct, I do, by virtue of the Letters Patent from the Crown of England to
this Corporation, Me thereunto enabling, appoint and Empower You to take the
said Company into your Care and Charge as their Ensign carefully and diligently
to discharge that Trust; exercising your inferior Officers and Soldiers in the
Use of their Arms according the Discipline of War; Keeping them in good Order
and Government, and commanding them to obey You as their Ensign for His
Majesty's Service. And you are to observe all such Orders and Directions as from
Time to Time You shall receive either from Me or from other your Superior
Officer pursuant to the Trust hereby reposed in You.

"Given under my
Hand and the Seal of this Colony in Hartford the 19th Day of May, in the 12th
Year of our Sovereign Lord George the Third King of Great Britain &c.
Annoque Domini 1772.

"Jonth. TRUMBULL.

"By His Honour's Command

"George WYLLIS Secr'y."

The second commission-of captain of the
4th Company or Trainband, in the town of Chatham and bearing date January
1775-is like unto the first with a few slight but very essential changes; it
substitutes the "State of Connecticut," and the "Laws of this State," for "His
Majesty's Colony," and "Letters Patent from the Crown." It refers to a former
commission issued October 15th 1775, perhaps as lieutenant. Captain STEWART was
on Long Island, and on one occasion stood near General WASHINGTON when a cannon
ball struck the ground under the general's horse. Washington calmly soothed his
frightened horse, then rode a little further off.

Sergeant Eber STOCKING served through the war. His cartridge
box is still preserved by his descendants. He used to tell his grandchildren
that on one occasion when they had bivouacked upon the field, on awaking in the
morning, the forms of sleeping soldiers were marked by mounds of snow which had
fallen upon them during the night. Sergeant STOCKING was for some years a
pensioner. He died August 26th 1828, at the age of 73.

Seymour HURLBURT
served seven years in the Continental army. It was said he was "the first in
battle and the last man out."

Samuel KILBOURN was sick with "camp
distemper" (dysentery) at the time of the massacre at Fort Griswold, Groton.
When it was seen that an attack was imminent the sick were removed to a barn
about two miles distant. Here they remained that night unattended, in the terror
and confusion of the time. The drink which had been left for them froze on the
surface during the night, and they had not strength to break the thin ice. The
scars resulting from this illness with the want of proper care, he carried to
his grave. He was over six feet in height, of fine appearance.

David
HALL was at the battle of Long Island.

Abram SCHELLINX was drafted into
the army. He was a chair maker by trade. His apprentice went with him to the
war, and at White Plains both his legs were shot off. Abram SCHELLINX was a
pensioner, and died October 23d 1821.

Michael STEWART was in the army a
short time.

THE WAR
OF 1812.

The second war
with Great Britain did not call for such sacrifice or make such demands upon
this town as the struggle for Independence. If any citizens of what is not
Portland took an active part in the fighting the fact has not come down to us.
But they did all that was required of them when Col. Daniel WHITE marched away
with his men to New London, where the time was spent in patrol and sentry duty,
and so much was the stern reality of war softened that it seemed like a
prolonged picnic. Elizur ABBY was captain; David CRUTTENDEN, lieutenant; John
KAY, sergeant. It is related that one party of soldiers returned from the "scene
of war's alarms," ingloriously but comfortably, in an ox cart. Col. WHITE rode a
fine charger, Pomp, who lived for many years, and when incapacitated for further
service by reason of his age, he would still show a martial spirit, and try to
curvet and prance as of old, when he heard the music of the drums on training
days.

PORTLAND
AS IT IS.

The old town
of Chatham covered a large extent of territory, and as its three parishes
increased in population, there was naturally talk of dividing the township. This
was advocated as early as 1798. At a meeting of the school society of Chatham,
on the 27th of September 1798, "the Question was put whether this Meeting will
do anything relative to dividing the town of Chatham? It was voted that this
Meeting do approve of the petition which has lately circulated in this Society
and is signed by a number of hits inhabitants relative to applying to the
General Assembly to incorporate that part of the town of Chatham described in
said petition into a distinct town."

The division was made in May 1841;
the bounds of the First Society in Chatham being taken for those of the new
town. The name first given was Conway, but this was changed to Portland at the
same session. This was in reference to the quarries, which resemble in size and
the quality of the stone the great sandstone quarries of Portland, England. The
first town meeting was held at the Congregational meeting house, the 21st of
June 1841, for the purpose of electing officers to serve until the regular town
meeting in October. Philip SAGE was clerk, and Henry HALL, moderator. The
selectmen appointed were: Edward C. WHITMORE, Lucius E. WALDO, Selden COOK;
treasurer, Selden Cook; constable, Samuel WILCOX; grand jurors, Rufus SEARS,
Chauncey TAYLOR; tything men, Charles WILLIAMS, Job H. PAYNE, Selden COOK,
Edward C. WHITMORE, Ralph PELTON, Enoch SAGE; pound keepers, David SHEPARD, and
Jesse GOFF; sealers of weights and measurers, Gilbert GRISWOLD and Daniel
Shepard jr.; fence viewers, Agustin OVERTON, Samuel WILCOX, Hiram A. PENFIELD,
Guy COOPER, Seth I. DAVIS, Alfred PAYNE, and Whitby FOSTER; haywards, Jacob
DUNHAM, Whitby FOSTER, William G. SAVAGE, Ralph GOODRICH; assessor, Selden COOK;
treasurer of the town deposit fund, Daniel RUSSEL; highway surveyors and
collectors, Whitby FOSTER, Hezekiah G. PELTON, Amos CORNWALL, George M. BROWN,
William HALE. It was resolved that the whole of the income of the town deposit
fund, the current year, be appropriated to the use of the schools. It was
resolved that William R. SMITH, Ralph GOODRICH, and Sylvester GILDERSLEEVE
should be the agents or managers of the town deposit fund. Resolutions were also
passed relating to alterations of highways if necessary; divisions of town funds
with Chatham, and that the poor house should be held jointly with the town of
Chatham for the poor of both towns.

It was resolved that the sign posts
heretofore established in the Portland School Society should be confirmed and
kept in repair; also "that the first annual town meeting of the town of Portland
shall be held on the first Monday of Oct. next." Selden Cook was appointed agent
to appear for the town in all suits, etc. The selectmen were instructed to
ascertain the property of the town of Chatham, and to make division of the same
agreeable to the resolution incorporating the town of Portland. The pounds near
Wangunk Meadow and at Pacausett were declared lawful pounds of the town of
Portland; the earmarks were ordered to be transferred from the records of
Chatham to those of Portland. The selectmen were requested to ascertain the
liability of the town of Portland to maintain a road from Chuchill's Landing to
Glastonbury, through Wangunk Meadow.

It was voted that no money should
be paid out of the town treasury without an order from the selectmen; that the
town clerk should provide all suitable record books; that the selectmen be
authorized to employ some person to clean the meeting house; and the thanks of
the meeting were tendered to Mr. HALL for the impartial and able manner in which
he had performed the duties of moderator. The meeting then adjourned.

At
the first annual meeting, 4th of October 1741, two assessors were appointed,
Edward LEWIS and Hiram A. PENFIELD; board of relief, William R. SMITH, Edward A.
PENFIELD, Daniel SHEPARD jr.; town clerk, Sylvester STOCKING; treasurer, Edward
LEWIS; selectmen, the same as before appointed; constables, Samuel WILCOX, Hiram
A. PENFIELD. A highway tax of two cents on a dollar, and a town tax of the same
amount, was voted. Highway surveyors were, Hezekiah G. PELTON, Hiram A.
PENFIELD, Harley CASE, Ralph PELTON, Benjamin ABBEY; collector of taxes, Hiram
A. PENFIELD: grand jurors, Charles WILLIAMS, Alfred MYRICK, Chauncey TAYLOR,
Alfred PAYNE; tything men, James W. WHITE, Jonathan FULLER, Job H. PAYNE, Seth
I. DAVIS, Chester PELTON, Sylvester STOCKING; treasurer of town deposit fund,
William R. SMITH; Hayward, Seth Il DAVIS, Whitby FOSTER, Alfred HALL, Henry S.
CONKLING. The same sealers of weights and measurers, and the same pound keepers,
were reappointed. Whitby FOSTER, Hiram A. PENFIELD, and David CORNWALL were
appointed a committee to divide the town into highway districts. The fence
viewers appointed were: Phillip H. SELLEW, Ralph GOODRICH, David CRITTENDEN,
Erastus STRONG, Samuel WILCOX, John R. AMES, Seth I. DAVIS, and Daniel F.
HOPKINS. The selectmen were instructed to discontinue the highway from
Churchill's Landing, through Wangunk Meadow, to Glastonbury. Resolutions were
passed relative to the funds deposited with the State, by the United States, in
pursuance of Act of Congress, and William R. SMITH was appointed the town's
agent to receive the town's share of such funds. April 4th 1842, Kellogg STRONG
was chosen the first representative of the town in the General Assembly. The
26th of May 1845, the town voted to accept the old church of the Episcopal
society, and the deed thereof was received by the town, and it was voted to hold
town meetings there. Some repairs and alterations being made, the town house was
first used for a town meeting, October 6th 1845. May 24th 1851, it was
unanimously voted to direct the selectmen to petition the Legislature, in the
name of the town of Portland, for liberty to loan the credit of this town to aid
in constructing the New York & Boston Railroad, commonly known as the Air
Line Railroad, within the limits of this State, to an amount not exceeding
$20,000.

October 3d 1853, an appropriation of $300 was voted for the
erection of a lockup or house of detention, provided the citizens of Portland
would raise $200 more by subscription.

Nothing more is recorded than the
usual proceedings each year till 1861. January 30th of that year, several
resolutions were passed at town meeting, supporting the Constitution of the
United States and of this State, both of which as freemen they had sworn to
support, and deprecating the agitation of abstract political dogmas, especially
by the pulpit and the press. Objecting to the "fanactical efforts of John Brown
to overthrow slavery by force," and urging the maintenance of peace, and
"hushing the loud call to arms."

July 28th 1862, it was resolved by a
vote of yeas 67, nays 55,

"That the Selectmen be directed to pay from
the town treasury the sum of $100 to every volunteer who may be ensiled into the
regiments now being raised or filled in this State, under the recent call from
the President for three hundred thousand more troops. And if there shall not be
sufficient funds in the treasury, then the selectmen are authorized to borrow
money on the credit of the town to make up the deficiency. This bounty not to be
paid to more than our quota under the above call, and on condition that all such
enlistments shall be on or before the 1st of September 1862.

It was
afterward voted that all who had enlisted in excess of the town's quota should
receive the same bounty. August 5th 1863, at a special town meeting, it was
voted to pay a bounty of $300 to each person drafted into the service of the
United States, and the sum of $15,000 was appropriated for this purpose.
September 30th 1863, the town appropriated $10,000 for the support of such of
the drafted men's families or dependents as should need such pecuniary
assistance. The soldiers and their families also received much aid aside from
this. The ladies of Portland met frequently to make clothing, scrape lint, and
make gallons of blackberry cordial which was sent with many other comforts and
delicacies to their soldiers in the army or in hospitals.

Town Clerks.-Sylvester STOCKING served from 1841 to 1860, when
Ebenezer WHITE was appointed, but on his death, January 12th 1861, Henry KILBY
was appointed till the next town meeting. S. GILDERSLEEVE was appointed January
29th 1861. He resigned January 1st 1864, and Joseph C. GLADWIN was appointed
till the next town meeting. Henry KILBY was appointed September 24th 1864;
Joseph GLADWIN was appointed October 2d 1865; William H. BARTLETT was appointed
October 1866, and has since held the office.

Evelyn WHITE has served
twelve terms as selectman, and Nelson PELTON fourteen. Want of space forbids a
more complete list of selectmen.

SCHOOLS.

The town of
Middletown, at a town meeting held January 9th 1701/2, made this grant of land
to the inhabitants on the east side:

"Inasmuch as there is a parcel of
pond, swamp, and bogga Land about thirty or fourty Acres lying on the east side
of the grate River, called Pocowsett, which is not yet Layd out to any person;
the town by vote do agree that the neighbors Inhabiting the East side the grate
River may clere & improve the said Land until such time as they shall be in
A capacity to maintain A schole or a minister, and then the said Land shall be
sequestered, and Improved, & ye Income there of shall be disposed of for
such publique Use as the town by vote shall ord'r. Att the same meeting the vote
above says was Interpreted by vote thus; that it is Intended and to be
understood yt ye Land mentioned therein Is to be clered by the neighbors on the
east side as sone as may be, and remain to the town's Use in Generall, until
they shall have eighter A schole or A minister on the East side settled and then
the Income of the land to be and remain for the particular publique use &
charg of the East side on the Acct above said."

In March 1711, this
petition was addressed to the mother town across the river:

"March 13th
1711 this Day being warned and appointed for a town meeting to agree for the
settlement of the town school for the proper Use and benefit of the whole town
in generall; we on the east side of the great River being also very sensible of
the necessity of the upholding schooling and the benefit thereof and likewise
the evil that doth ordinarily follow in the want therof, we do therefore
propound these following things on our own behalf:--being very willing to agree
in the most equitable and peaceable way with our loving neighbours of the town
on the west side of the great River on both sides of the ferry Vizt that Is In
all times coming annually that we on the East side keep a school among our
selves so much of the yeare as the money Raised of an from our selves shall
amount unto, that is to say Raised on our grand List of Estates among our
selves, and whether by country or town, and Likewise that we agree with our
neighbourhood In a town way In voating and chusing committees that we may by no
means hinder the settlement of a town school, or if it may please you best to
desist, Either, but we think It a thing most Rationall, Loving neighbours, that
our own money be Laid out upon our own children, and in charity we do believe
and conclude that if your selves were in our sted you would desire the same, and
If we were In your sted we should Readily grant, so we hope we shall not be
looked on As those that Lay aside the best Rule but to prevent such an objection
as this that we will thereby not keep a school nor pay to your neither which you
may call your town or society school, to prevent yt which we never Intend, we
desire that a committee may be chosen to Inspect the matter, and upon our
failure we shall look on our selves liable to Suffer a compulsion to pay our
just proportion to the town or society school or schools as we are accounted
formerly to belong unto, not els at present, but hoping you will give just
ground to subscrib our selves In token of Love and gratitude your Loving friends
neighbours and bretheren &c. who are here unto subscribd.

The settlers
were naturally anxious to establish a school as soon as possible, for, said a
New England divine, even as early as 1690: "the Youth of this Country are very
sharp and early ripe in their Capacities, above most in the world, and were the
Benefits of a Religious and Ingenuous Education bestowed upon them, they would
soon prove an Admirable People." The petition here quoted being granted by the
town of Middletown, we find that,

"At a meeting of the inhabitants on
the East side the River in Middletown April 1711 it was agreed that the scool
should be kept four months in the summer and two months in the winter; it was
also voted that the children from six years old to ten years old shal bare their
proportion in upholding the charge of the scool if they shall go or no; and if
any go younger or older to pay; agreed that George STOCKEN and Ebenezer SMITH
shal be to consult the best way for ordering the scool and John SLEID and
Ephraim WILCOCK likewise chosen for the same work.

"At the same meeting
it was agreed that if any person will send a child or children younger than six
years old in the roum of those obliged to go it shall be accepted."

January 20th 1712, it was

"Voted that the School should be kept
for the half year ensuing at two places, Viz at or about Thomas BUCK's and at or
about Francis SMITH's, and Wm CORNWELL Sr., John GAINS should be a Comity with
George STOCKEN to order the Schooll."

February 24th 1713-14, it was
"ordered that the comity should have power to fix the school in two or three
places." Yearly these "neighbours," when they met to appoint their "prudential
committees," and consult for building a meeting house and settling a minister,
they also appointed their school committee for the year, and the most
influential and responsible men were put upon these committees. That they
believed in "rotation in office" is proved by the fact that in 39 committees,
appointed from 1711 to 1750, there were 100 persons and 58 distinct names.
Usually new men were elected each year; and two or three years elapsed before
any of these same men were called upon to serve in the same capacity.

December 27th 1722, it "was granted to the naibours on the back side of
Womgog to have there part of money according to ther List to improve for the
teaching ther children." This was the present Rose Hill District, and the first
to be set off.

December 22d 1727.-"Voted that the south farmers from
John PENFIELDS southward and eastward shall have their part of money to Instruct
their children in learning, they improving the same with liberty for one year."
The "south farmers" were the settlers of Middle Haddam and East Hampton.

February 1st 1741, they divided the town into three school districts:

"The Society, for the encourigment of schooling, Agrees by Major vote as
followeth; Viz 1st that the society shall be divided into three parts and the
first part to begin at the place where Mr. CORNWELL's and MILLER's grist mill
now stands and extend eastward as far as the west side of the hil called
COLLINGES hil, and from there both southward and westward to the great River;
and the next part to contain all that part which lyes eastward of s'd first
part, to the extent of the bounds of the society; and the third part to Contain
all that which is northward of the fore said two pats to the extent of the
society. 2d that for the futor there shall be eleven months school kept in this
society yearly; that is six months of it by a good school master for reading and
wrighting and five months by a good Mrs. for reading; and what is wanting more
than we are to receive out of the town rate and county rate and by the General
Assemblys donation and any other donation to enable the school committee as
above said, the said term yearly, the remainder shall be raised yearly on the
general list of the society and collected 3dly that the school Committee shall
have their instructions to order the school to be kept in each of the above said
three parts one after another their proportionable part of the time according to
their list of estate for the time being; and that where so ever the said school
shall be kept it shall be a society school, and each one in the society shall
have Liberty to send their children provided they answer a reasonable part about
fier wood: and each of the above said parts shall have liberty to build a school
house, and that there shall be one comite man in each of the above said parts
yearly, Voted, to raise a rate of one penny on the pound to enable the committee
to carry on the schools."

The "grist mill" here mentioned was on the
site now occupied by COX's mill. "COLLINGES hil" is just west, so by this
division the first district extended from COX's mill and the granite quarry to
the river, both south and west, including the larger part of Portland; the
second district included Middle Haddam and East Hampton; and the third all the
northern part of the (then) society. They now vote to have the school kept
eleven months in the year instead of six as had been done. By act of Assembly
every town or ecclesiastical society having 70 families must keep a school 11
months in the year, and those with less than 70 families six months. Notice that
the schools in these three districts did not hold their sessions simultaneously,
but "one after another their proportionable part of the time;" Which would of
course shorten the period of schooling in each district, the children in some
districts having only perhaps two months schooling during the year, others four
or five.

December 19th 1752; it was "agreed that the northward part of
the Inhabitants in the neck part of this society shall have Liberty to build a
school house & draw proportionable part of school money." This, of course,
was the present District No. I.

In 1748, a tax of four pence on the
pound was laid; in 1749, six pence; in 1754, it was raised to 12d., probably to
build the school houses in the different districts. After this the rate was one
penny on the pound.

November 29th 1757, "Agreed that the necessary
firewood for the use of the school should be provided by parents and masters
according to the poles which are sent to school, whoever shall neglect to
provide it shall be added to the penny rate." The question of "firewood" seems
to have been a troublesome one; many votes were passed to compel those sending
children to provide the wood.

In 1772, the committee were instructed to
provide the wood and "raise a rate on ye poles of ye children that go to ye s'd
schools." At first the wood was hauled to the school house door by each one
sending children; but the tax for firewood was kept up till within the memory of
many now living.

In 1765, "Capt. David SAGE, Dea Joseph WHITE, and Lieut
Samll HALL were chosen a committee to receive the Donations for the use of the
school & particularly what is due to the school from the sale of Norfolk
land." This was the General Assembly's grant of moneys from the sale of seven
townships (Norfolk, Goshen, Canaan, Cornwall, Kent, Salisbury, and Sharon) in
what is now Litchfield county, for the support of schools. This grant was made
in 1733, and has been referred to as the "General Assembly's Donation."

November 7th 1768, it was voted that the Southwest School District
"shall for ye time being keep their school half of ye time at ye old school
house and ye other half of ye time at Pacowsett, until ye money raised by Rate
and ye Donation & county money be expended." The "old school house" stood
near where the GILDERSLEEVE school now stands, and it was thought too far to
send the children from "Pacowsett."

"Voted also to divide ye northeast
District in two parts or Districts; Viz ye north district to come as far south
as ye south side of Mr. Jonathan WELLES land, that is to say to ye south side of
his lott from east to west, and ye other part to extend south to their old
bounds."

This was dividing the district next to Glastonbury from No. 5
(Up City).

"Voted that ye southeast district of school shall be divided
into three parts, those that line on ye short lotts to be one entire District
& those on ye north on ye long lotts to run south to ye south side of Mr.
STEWART's lotts, so far south as an east and west line of his lott; & ye
other part to begin at ye south line of sd STEWART lott and to extend south to
ye extent of their old bounds on ye Long lotts.

"23d Nov. 1784. Voted
that the northeast corner of s'd Society shall be made a distinct school
district to extend from the east bounds of s'd Society by a north and south line
so far west as to include the house in wh. Solomon CHAPMAN now dwels & from
Glastonbury Line southward two miles." This was a readjustment of the boundaries
of District No. 7.

The 1st of November 1791, Captain Joseph SAGE and
Lieutenant Nicholas AMES were chosen to receive and distribute to the several
schools, the "forty shillings on every thousand pounds of the grand Levy, from
the State Treasurer." This was the State tax.

The last committee
mentioned in the records of the First Society, appointed in 1794, were: Joseph
WILLCOX, Welles DIGGINS, Jonathan PELTON, Luther GOODRICH, Richard BROWN, and
Abel STRICKLAND; Joseph BLAGUE jr., Nicholas AMES, and John ELLSWORTH were
appointed a special committee. The schools now passed from the care of the
church or ecclesiastical society into that of the school society. In May 1795,
an act was passed which recognized the ecclesiastical societies in a distinct
capacity as "school Societies," and in May 1798, the school societies were
invested with the powers, and subjected to the duties, which the former laws had
given to, and required of, towns and ecclesiastical societies, relative to the
same objects, and from this date they known in law as school societies. Their
territorial limits were sometimes co-extensive with a town, sometimes included
only part of a town, and sometimes embraced parts of two or more towns. This
paragraph from the Act of 1795, quoted on the first page of the school society's
record, sets forth the standing and duties of the school societies:

"That all the Inhabitants living within the limits of the located
societies who have or may have a right to vote in Town meetings shall meet, some
time in the month of October annually, in the way and manner prescribed in the
Statute entitled an Act for forming, ordering, and regulating societies, and
being so met shall exercise the powers given in and by said Act in organizing
themselves, and in appointing the necessary officers as therein directed for the
year ensuing; and may transact any other business son the subject of schooling
in Generall and touching the monies hereby appropriated to their use in
particular, according to Law, and shall have power to adjourn from time to time
as they shall think proper."

The record then begins with:

"Agreeable to the Spirit and intention of the above recited Act of
Assembly, the Inhabitants of the first located Society in Chatham met on the
last Thursday of Oct., A. D., 1795, at 3 o'clock afternoon, a the meeting house
in said society, being Warned by a special Warrant Signed by a justice of the
peace together with three of the principal Inhabitants of said Society, Lieut
David ROBERTSON was chosen Moderator; Joseph BLAGUE Jun'r was appointed clerk;
the usual tax of one penny on the pound was voted; Capt. Nicholas AMES, Joseph
BLAGUE Jun'r, and John ELLSWORTH were appointed a committee to Superintend,
Order, and Direct the affairs of the school throughout the Society. James
STANCLIFT, Samuel WILLCOX, Elisha SHEPARD, Seth STRICTLAND, Samuel BUTLER, and
Amos GOODRICH were appointed school committee-men and collectors in the school
Districts in which they severally belong. It was voted that the wood expended by
the several schools should be paid for by a tax on the polls attending to said
schools."

Joseph BLAGUE was granted, "six shillings lawful money for the
purchase of a book of records for this Society."

"The next year, 1796,
the tax of one penny on the pound was changed to "five mills on a dollar."

The meeting of February 6th 1799, chose "Rev'd Cyprian STRONG, Rev'd
Smith MILES, Doctor Moses BARTLITT, Doct. Ebenezer SAGE, Joseph BLAGUE Jun'r,
Capt. Daniel STEWART, and Mr. Nathaniel CORNWELL as Overseers or Visitors of the
schools." This was in accordance with the Act of 1798-9. The duties were about
the same as those of the present acting visitors.

It was voted not to
levy the usual tax of five mills "if the interest arising from the sale of the
Western Reserve lands should be a sum equal to the whole amount of said tax."

November 4th 1800, Seth OVERTON, Hezekiah GOODRICH, and Enoch SAGE were
appointed to "set a stake for the place of setting a school House in the
PENFIELD district, (so called)."

In 1801, it was voted that the district
committee should cause every master to be examined by two or more of the
visitors before he should be employed as an instructor. In 1803, the Northeast
District was divided by annexing four families to the adjoining district of
Glastonbury, and others to the adjoining district in Chatham. January 1st 1805,
a committee was chosen to affix a place to build a school house in the North
Neck District.

Doctor Isaac SMITH and Doctor Isaac CONKLIN were added in
1807 to the school visitors formerly appointed, and in 1812, Rev. Eber L. CLARK
was chosen in the place of Rev. Dr. STRONG, deceased. Jesse HALL, Samuel HALL,
David STOCKING, and Abner SAGE were also chosen school visitors with those
already appointed.

It was also voted at this meeting that "the interest
arising from the sale of the land which was granted by the town of Middletown in
the year 1701/2 to the Inhabitants of the east side of the river for the use of
schools, or minister, be applied the present year for the use of public
schools." This is the grant of land at "Pacowsett" mentioned in the beginning of
the history of schools.

In the year 1815, the three eastern districts
were "annexed into one," and "stake was set on the north side of a stone wall 50
or 60 rods westerly on the road that leads from Zebulon PENFIELDS' to Capt David
SMITH's." This stood west of the present building, half way to Mrs. ALEXANDER's.
In 1817,m an examining committee of 17 members was appointed for "examining and
inspecting the schools." It included most of the former school visitors. It is
impossible, for want of space, to give all their names.

October 5th 1830, upon petition of Penfield Hill
School District, a committee was appointed "to designate a spot in s'd district
to remove or build a school house that will enable them to receive the donation
given to s'd Dis't by Mr. John STEWART deceased;" they established the site for
said school house on the east side of the highway, between the dwelling house of
Zebulon PENFIELD and the dwelling house of Daniel SHEPARD Esq. This was the
present school house, a substantial and handsome brick building.

The
same year the Southwest District and Pacausett were divided. The stake for the
Pacausett school house being set on lands of Guy COOPER, and the other on land
belonging to Joel HALL, the present Pacausett school house. The last mentioned
was the second building in the Southwest District, now Second District. It stood
where the EDWARDs' block now stands.

The final establishment of the
several districts as they are at present-with a few unimportant changes
hereafter noted-was made October 3d 832, "Doctor Isaac SMITH being moderator,
Rev. William JARVIS, Rev. Harvey TALCOTT, Job H. PAYNE, Joseph GOODRICH, Erastus
STRONG, Archibald KINNEY, and David CORNWELL, school societys' committee;" it
was voted "that the several school districts shall hereafter be known as
follows:

"Whites' school district as No. 1, or First District.

"South or Neck school district as No. 2, or Second District.

"Meadow school district as No. 3, or Third District

"Penfield
Hill school district as No. 4, or Fourth District.

"City or North school
district as No. 5, or Fifth District.

"Pacausett school district as No.
6, or Sixth District.

"New City (to Glastonbury) school district as No.
7, or Seventh District."

The boundaries of these districts are defined
in the school society's record, but it would require too much space to mention
in detail. They are the same that now stand except in a few unimportant details.
No. 7, which became in the final adjustment the last numbered, though tradition
holds that the first school house in Portland stood within its bounds-two years
ago in March was set back to Up City, No. 5.

In 1856, school societies
were abolished by the State, and their property and obligations passed to the
towns. The town elected its first board of school visitors, October 6th 1856, in
conformity to the act of the General Assembly just mentioned. The following
gentlemen composed this board: Samuel M. EMERY, Hervey TALCOTT, S. G. W. RANKIN,
M. PARSONS, Hiram A. PENFIELD, Alfred HALL, Ebenezer B. WHITE, Joseph E.
GOODRICH, and James F. BUCK. They held their first meeting, October 13th 1856,
when the Rev. Hervey TALCOTT, having been a school visitor for a period of over
40 years, declined acting as such any longer. Henry GILDERSLEEVE was chosen to
fill the vacancy occasioned by his resignation, until the next annual meeting of
the town. January 28th 1857, they examined and corrected the returns of the
enumeration of children, jointly with the selectmen, and divided the amount
raised by the one per cent tax among the different districts. They examined into
and reported the condition of the schools of the town. They reported that there
had been expended on the schools: $1,145.25, State fund; $287.52, town deposit
fund; $665.88, town tax; $1,465.94, tax on the time of attendance. District No.
2 also received $7.00 tuition of scholars from other districts, and Penfield
Hill District $30 from local fund. The report was signed by Samuel M. EMERY and
S. G. W. RANKIN, and at their suggestion a vote was passed by the town
regretting the retirement of the Rev. Mr. TALCOTT, and thanking him for his
long, able, and efficient service as school visitor. There were then (1857), in
District No. 1, 126 scholars; No. 2, 393; No. 3, 52; No. 4, 58; No. 5, 38; No.
6, 118; No. 7, 33.

September 7th 1866, it was proposed to consolidate
the school districts and make one union district, which was rejected by a
majority vote.

There are seven schools in Portland, some of these
consisting of several departments. They are managed by a board of nine school
visitors, two of whom are elected annually.

The present board consists
of: president, George B. CLEVELAND; secretary, J. S. BAYNE; visitors, C. W.
WHITE, C. A. SEARS, F. D. HARRIMAN, H. C. MARKHAM, W. S. STRICKLAND, Albert
HALE, and Asaph HALE. The board annually assigns the duties of visiting the
schools of the town to one or more of their number, of whom the secretary shall
always be one, who shall visit such schools at least twice during each term, at
which visit the school house and out-buildings, school register, and library
shall be examined, and the studies, discipline, mode of teaching, and general
condition of the school investigated. The acting visitors are: Dr. C. A. SEARS,
Mr. Asaph HALE, and Rev. J. S. BAYNE. The committee for the examining of
teachers consists of Rev. F. D. HARRIMAN, and Rev. J. S. BAYNE. The district
committee for the hiring of teachers and the more particular oversight of each
are: No. 1, Asaph STRONG, Titus HALE, Allen BUTLER; No. 2, John H. HALL, C. E.
HAMMOND, Frank BRAINERD; No. 3, William E. KELSEY; No. 4, Lyman PAYNE; No. 5,
William N. SIMPSON; No. 6, H. C. MARKHAM, and W. H. INGERSOLL.

The
following account of the school houses of the town may be interesting to many:

District No. 1, a fine large building, erected in 1876. Mr. Sylvester
GILDERSLEEVE furnished the money for the second story, and gave it to the
district as a public hall. It was named GILDERSLEEVE Hall. He has also
contributed a fund for the use of the school.

District No. 2 has had
three school houses located in different parts of the district. The first of
these stood near where Mr. E. HINCKLEY lives. The second, which was at that time
called the Academy, occupied the spot on which the EDWARDs block now stands. The
third was the present building, the "stone school house," as it is called. The
site was bought of Joel HALL and Samuel HALL for $100.

It was voted that
"said district should allow J. HALL and S. HALL to construct and fit up and
control the hall in the second story which should be leased to them for 999
years." Mr. Daniel RUSSELL having furnished much of the money for the building
of the second story, it was named RUSSELL Hall. The building was finished and
occupied in 1845.

In 1856 it was bought by the district, as the room was
needed for schools. Mr. F. A. LILLIE has been principal since 1877. There are
six rooms which are taught respectively by Misses Hattie E. CULVER, Jennie S.
EDDY, Alpha S. HALL, Annie L. STRONG, and Louie S. CARRIER.

District No.
3, or Rose Hill. This is the oldest school house in town; built in some remote
period to which the memory of any living runneth not back. There is a well
founded tradition that it once stood beneath the sand bank, and was moved to its
present position on the hill. It was pronounced "in bad condition" by the first
board of school visitors in 1857, but it has been repaired, and probably
sprinkled from the fountain of perpetual youth, as it is no worse now than it
was then. The present teacher is Carrie A. CRAIG.

District No. 4,
Penfield Hill. This fine brick school house was built in 1830, partly with funds
left by John STEWART, in his will. An addition was built in 1840. Miss Fannie
STEWART is teacher.

District No. 5, Up City, was built in 1857, at a
cost of about $1,100. Miss Mary E. SHEPARD is the present teacher.

The
house in District No. 6 was built about 1830 or 1831. Mr. H. P. DENNISON has
been the teacher of the first, and Miss Alice STRICKLAND of the second room.

The "Bank School" should have been mentioned in connection with District
No. 2, in which it belongs. This building was erected about fourteen years ago.
There are schools in three rooms, taught by Mrs. Mary FITZPATRICK, Miss Maggie
FORREST, and Miss Mary A. FITZPATRICK.

Mr. William INGERSOLL has started
a kindergarten school in place of the department formerly the second room of
District No. 6.

There is also a private school, for little children,
taught by Miss Eunice WHITE, who had taught twenty-six terms in the primary room
of District No. 1.

TEACHERS.-Very few names of the first teachers in the
town have come down to the present time. The first mentioned is John ELLSWORTH,
who taught "over the meadow" in 1779, and a Mr. SELDING taught in this part of
Chatham about the same time.

The Madams NEWELL, as they were called, the
two daughters of the first pastor, taught at the parsonage; and rewarded their
good scholars with bits of fennel, and juicy plums, delicacies at that time
unknown in the other gardens of the parish.

William TALCOTT taught in
1819 and 1820.

Archibald KINNEY taught for 20 years. About 1822, he
taught the academy, which stood below the present post office. He had a very
large school, and was a most successful teacher. He was very kind, and not as
rigid in his government as the custom of the time. His scholars loved and obeyed
him, and improved rapidly under his instruction. The vacation was in May, at the
time of the "Election," and he visited his friends and hoed corn for pastime. He
was tall and thin. He had a son and two daughters. He bought a farm in Suffield
and retired.

Hiram PENFIELD taught at Pacausett in 1830.

Enoch
JACKMAN came to Portland, March 17th 1737, from Vermont. He taught three winters
at Pacausett, and three at Rose Hill. He was a successful teacher, and a
prominent debater in the lyceums. He still resides in Portland.

Harrison
WHITCOMB taught several winters at Penfield Hill, between 1830 and 1840. He came
from Vermont, and he is now a physician in Rutland.

Horatio CHAPMAN
taught the school at Pacausett several winters.

Miss Maria PAYNE was a
loved and successful teacher here for several years, though the greater part of
her teaching was done in Middletown. While in Portland she taught a private
school for young ladies.

Miss Levantia OVERTON taught several years in
District No. 1, prior to 1857.

Miss Mary HOPKINS, now Mrs. MUNN, taught
during seven years in Portland, about 1848.

Mr. and Mrs. CUMMINGS are
still remembered with affection by many of their former pupils.

Mr. E.
A. SUMNER, the organizer and teacher of the Gildersleeve High School from 1879
to 1883, a graduate of Wesleyan in 1878, now practicing law in Springfield,
Mass., was a faithful and efficient instructor here.

Mr. W. S.
STRICKLAND, in a historical sketch appended to the Report of School Visitors for
1880, gives this list of prominent public men who were once teachers in this
town: Hon. Lyman TRUMBULL, of Illinois; Bishops GILBERT and E. O. HAVEN, of the
Methodist Episcopal Church; Judge BUTTERFIELD, of the Court of New York; Orange
JUDD Esq.; and Rev. Nelson COBLEIGH, D. D., late president of McKendrie College.

MILLS,
MANUFACTORIES, ETC.

EARLY
MILLS.-There were two mills in Chatham at a very early date. One of these, on
the sit of COX's Mill, now called the Ravine Mills, stood here certainly as
early as 1741. This mill supplied the Continental soldiers with flour, which was
drawn to New London for the troops stationed there. While almost all the
ablebodied men were in the army, the owner, MILLER by name as well as by
profession, was spared to run the mill, and perhaps helped as much in this
capacity as he would have done with a musket in his hands.

What became
of the old mill is not known; but another was built, at the same place, in 1801,
by Mr. Enoch SAGE (grandfather of the present Enoch Sage). His three sons,
Phillip, Alexander, and Charles Henry, helped their father build the dam.

Afterward Mr. SAGE sold it to John INGRAHAM, a rather eccentric man, who
owned it for a time. He kept "bachelor's hall" in a room finished off over the
mill. The following anecdote is related of INGRAHAM, who was very positive in
his opinion. Soon after the news of Gen. TAYLOR's splendid victory at Resaca de
la Palma was received, John was expatiating to a select audience upon the war,
denouncing it as unjust and oppressive. Said he, "So old TAYLOR's whipped 'em
has he? Its too bad, I don't blame them Mexicans a bit for fighting our folks; I
say let them enjoy their religion and don't send men down there to force ours on
'em." "Force our religion on them, John," said one listener, "that's not so." "I
say tis so," thundered John, "didn't President POLK send a minister there by the
name of SLIDER to force our religion on em? And didn't they send him back?" "But
John" replied the listener, "Mr. SLIDELL was an envoy-a minister of State." "I
say," roared John; "he was a minister, a Presbyterian minister, and I don't
blame them for fighting. I would fight if I were they." John's earnest please
for liberty of conscience, though unsound in its premises, was greeted by his
audience with "three times three and a tiger." He died January 25th 1848, at the
age of 54. Mr. George COX bought the mill of BRAINERD and ADAMS, who settled
INGRAHAM's estate, in 1852. The mill being very much out of repair, they
expended about $1,000 to put it in good working order. They also built the house
adjoining, there being no dwelling there at the time, and the ground was covered
with huge boulders. Mr. Isaac COX afterward joined the firm. They have a good,
solid dam, which withstood the great freshet of 1869. They have two sets of
stones for grain and one for spices. They do custom and mercantile work, but it
is largely a custom mill, grinding all kinds of grain, also spices. They put up
pulverized sage and other herbs. The old chestnut tree opposite the mill is a
relic of the primeval forest. It has been gradually dying for many years.

The other mill, which antedated the Revolution, stood near the present
line between Portland and Middle Haddam. It was owned by Lieutenant George
HUBBARD, who held his commission from the British government in the old colonial
times. The present mill was built by George HUBBARD, grandson of Lieutenant
HUBBARD in 1811. He tore down the old one and used the same site. The property
descended to his heirs and by them was sold to Daniel and Jabez JONES. From them
it passed into the possession of George S. HUBBARD, who subsequently sold it to
BAILEY & SHEPARD, who took out the entire milling outfit and changed the
mill to a manufactory of coffin hardware. They started their factory in 1854, or
about that time. In 1857, Harrison BRAINERD purchased SHEPARD's interest, and
the firm was known as BAILEY & BRAINERD, manufacturers of coffin trimmings,
etc." They employed from 35 to 40 hands. Z. E. DOWD bought an interest n the
business in April 1884, and the name was changed to The Cobalt Manufacturing
Company. The power which rives the machinery in this factory and which carried
the mills which have stood upon the same site, is mainly derived from the water
flowing from the Great Hill Pond.

A year or two before the Revolutionary
war there was built by Nathaniel CORNWELL, a full milling and cloth-dressing
establishment on COX's Brook, then called CARR's Brook, where the woolen fabrics
spun and woven in the town were dyed and finished to take the place of the
broadcloths formerly imported from England. The wool was carded, taken home,
spun, and woven, and brought back again to be dressed. There is a story that Mr.
STRICKLAND, a member of the band in Chatham, sheared the wool from a sheep's
back; it was cleansed and carded, spun, and woven; Mr. CORNWELL fulled and
colored, pressed, and finished it; it was taken home, the tailoress, Miss Esther
HURLBURT, cut and made a suit which adorned the owner at the next training,
within three weeks from the time the wool was growing on the sheep. A carding
machine was added by David CORNWALL about 1813 or 1814. This mill was afterward
used for the manufacture of horn and ivory combs by Ephraim TYLER and Kelley
TYLER. These combs were mostly exported to South America. There were no woolen
or linen mills, but the loom was set up in many garrets and the spinning wheels
were always busy.

The old mill near Mr. Horace WILCOX's was formerly a
wagon manufactory and casting shop. The plows made here were considered the best
of their kind.

SORGHUM MILLS.-there was a sorghum mill, built in 1865,
near St. John's Chapel, by a few farmers and the Rev. A. C. DENISON; Mr. H.
KILBY being manager. The machinery was bought in Cincinnati. The total cost of
mill and fixtures was about $1,800. It possessed a capacity of 200 gallons, the
average product of one acre, per day. The business bade fair to become one of
the leading enterprises of the town, when in 1868, one the 23d of September, a
very severe frost ruined the entire crop, which was more than double any ever
raised here before.

THE FELDSPAR MILL, near Deacon Ralph PELTON's, was
built by him in 1877. The grinding is done by two stone chasers about five feet
in diameter, moving around upon a bedstone of the same material. The crushed
feldspar then passes to a revolving sieve, and thence to a cylinder, containing
3,300 pounds of Norway pebbles, of 18 revolutions per minute, where it is finely
pulverized.

THE VALLEY MILLS were built by Taylor & Strong in 1871,
as a planning mill. In 1876, they were bought by E. J. BELL, and turned into a
flour and feed mill, with one run of stones, and a capacity for grinding 500
bushels of corn and oats per day. Four or five persons were employed. The mills
were destroyed by fire March 10th 1884. Mr. BELL is now erecting buildings and
making preparations for opening an extensive steam stone years. The works when
complete will cost about $10,000. A steam engine of 35-horse power will be used,
and two gang saws and a rubbing bed.

THE GILDERSLEEVE STEAM SAW MILL was
built in 1868. The mill is 26 by 80 feet; the engine house 24 by 30 feet. There
is a 50-horse power engine, and a 54-inch circular saw. Capacity, 20,000 feet
per day. The lumber sawed at this mill is mostly chestnut and oak, furnished by
farmers in this and adjoining towns, during the winter, sometimes by raft in the
summer. Logs from three feet long and four inches through, to sixty feet long
and four feet through, are sawed here. A portion of the timber is used in the
shipyard. The remainder is used for building purposes, in this and other towns.
In addition to the manufacture of native lumber, pine lumber is brought from the
West, and dressed in various styles and shapes, according to the directions of
the carpenter, for houses and other buildings. Nearly all the spruce handled by
this concern comes from Bangor, Maine. A full assortment of building materials
is kept; scroll sawing, turning, planning, and matching, and various kinds of
wood work are done here. Mr. Henry KILBY has been the efficient manager from the
time it was first started. In connection with the mill are wagon works, under
the superintendence of Mr. Frederick GLADWIN. The building is 24 by 70 feet. All
kinds of wagons are made and repaired here. Blacksmithing for vessels, and horse
and cattle shoeing are carried on.

THE BUCK CARRIAGE MANUFACTORY, from
1812 to 1825, made many carriages and wagons, which were mostly sent south. They
employed 25 to 30 hands. James BUCK was the last owner.

UNITED STATES
STAMPING COMPANY.-The extensive works of the United States Stamping Company are
situated a short distance from the main street of Portland, and directly on the
line of the New York & Boston Air Line Railroad. They are said to be the
largest of the kind in the United States. The old method of cutting out and
soldering the various articles of tin ware is now superseded by the stamping
process. A single piece of tin, of any size desired, is, by a single operation
of the press, stamped into shape. After passing through other machinery it comes
out an article more perfectly formed than the most skillful workman could
accomplish after hours of labor. The company manufacture plain, japanned, and
stamped tin ware, patent street lamps, patent self-righting cuspadores, etc. The
buildings are mostly of brick, and cover over an acre, and the dies and
machinery cost several hundred thousand dollars. From 300 to 400 hands are
employed, and the goods are shipped to every part of the world. The buildings
are heated by steam and lighted with gas, and particular attention is paid to
their hygienic condition, while everything that can conduce to the comfort of
the operatives has been carefully provided for. The business was formerly
conducted by the HEATH & SMITH Manufacturing Company, which was organized in
1869. The present company was organized in 1879, under the general law of the
State of New York, with a capital of $200,000, and bought out the former
company. The incorporators were: Lorin INGERSOLL, A. S. COMPTON, J. e.
INGERSOLL, J. P. AUSTIN, and A. P. CRUIKSHANK. The officers were: Lorin
INGERSOLL, president; A. S. COMPTON, secretary; J. E. INGERSOLL, treasurer. When
the business was first started the goods were all trucked to the ferry and
shipped by the river steamers. The New York & Boston Air Line Railroad now
runs directly through the property of the company. In 1873, the company, at a
cost of $1,500, erected a fine depot, not only for its own accommodation but for
the use of the people of Portland. The company owns some 40 acres, on which it
has erected several dwellings for the use of the operatives. In order to keep up
the supply of water for the several buildings, an enormous reservoir with a
capacity of 85,000 gallons was sunk in the solid rock to a depth of 12 feet-20
by 30, through the center of which is a well 26 feet deep and 10 feet in
diameter. The town voted to abate the taxes of the company if they would
continue their business here. The company are now putting up new and handsome
brick buildings.

THE J. R. PICKERING COMPANY.-Attached to the buildings
of the United States Stamping Company are the works of the J. R. PICKERING
Company for the manufacture of the "PICKERING Governor," for steam engines. This
is a private corporation, established in New York city in 1864. The business was
removed to Portland, and the building erected in 1870. Fifty or sixty hands are
employed, mostly skilled laborers.

TANNERIES.-During the last century
and the first part of the present, there were several tanneries in Portland.
Daniel SHEPHARD had one at Great Hill Pond; another, owned by Capt. Daniel
SMITH, was near Mrs. ALEXANDER's, on the road to Penfield Hill. One, a little
distance east of Titus HALE's, was owned by Elizur GOODRICH. Capt. SMITH's was
the last one in operation in the town. It was given up early in this century,
since which time there has been no tanning in Portland, and the "leather
sealer," once an important town office, has become obsolete.

DISTILLERIES.-Early in the present century there were two distilleries
in Portland. They made cider brandy. One, run by DAYTON & CONVERSE, stood
near Mr. D. CRITTENDEN's; the other was on CARR's or COX's brook, kept by Noah
STRICKLAND. These also have become obsolete.

SPECTACLES.-About 1834, Mr.
Gilbert GRISWOLD began the manufacture of gold and silver spectacles, making
gold spectacles principally. He also dealt in watches, clocks, jewelry, small
arms, and cutlery.

MATTRESS FACTORY.-A mattress factory was carried on
for some years by Mr. Barnard SAVAGE, in a building in GILDERSLEEVE's shipyard.
A few years ago the business was removed to New Haven.

TOBACCO PACKING,
ETC.-Charles ABBEY had a cigar manufactory at GILDERSLEEVE from 1867 to 1878. He
employed, in favorable times, 20 to 25 men.

Asaph STRONG was a raiser of
tobacco previous to 1861. That winter, in company with Titus HALE, he bought and
packed about 400 cases. During the next ten years he bought on his own account
and packed on commission for growers from 500 to 800 cases per year. In 1871, he
commenced buying and packing for M. H. LEVIN, 162 Pearl street, New York, and is
still his agent. The amount packed per year has ranged from 1,000 to 3,000
cases. As many as 125 men have been employed, some winters, sorting and packing.
Other seasons not more than 35. The amount packed and the length of season
causing the variation. Some year the business starts as early as November, other
years, from various causes, there is nothing done till January. The season
closed about April, but sometimes lasts a little beyond that time.

John
DAY packs, on an average, 500 cases per year, 350 pounds in a case. Joseph E.
LORD is superintendent of his packing house, which is a fine large building
erected in 1881.

Charles WHITE has two warehouses, the larger built in
1874, the smaller in 1867. He packs and ships, on an average, 1,000 cases
annually, 370 pounds to a case. His cigar manufactory, begun in 1864, continues
to the present time. He employs a good times 40 to 50 hands.

C. R. &
E. S. HALE began packing tobacco in 1876, since which time they have packed from
300 to 400 cases per year.

SHIPYARD.

For more than
a century and a half shipbuilding has been the chief industry of that part of
Portland now called GILDERSLEEVE, and it was for a time the most active business
in the town. Early in the last century, George LEWIS built vessels on the
present site of the GILDERSLEEVE yard. The first vessel built in Portland was
launched here in October 1741. It was a schooner of 90 tons. During the
Revolution, several ships of war were built at the shipyard which occupied the
BRAINERD Quarry. It was owned by a man named BUSH. The Trumbull was one of
these, of 700 tons, 36 guns, and the Bourbon, 900 tons, and 40 guns. This last
was not armed on account of the occurrence of peace. The frigate Connecticut was
built by Philip GILDERSLEEVE, master carpenter, at the yard near STEVEN's wharf,
at the end of Shipyard lane, in 1798. She was 514 tons; 20 guns; and was
commanded by Capt. Moses TRYON. The contractor was Gen. Seth OVERTON.

Shipbuilding was begun at CHURCHILL's yard in 1795. Two vessels by the
name of Holker were built here. The first, built 1813, 350 tons, 18 guns, was
driven ashore by the English at Narragansett, and lost. It was said that the
Holker's captain was an Englishman, and choosing rather to risk the punishment
of the Americans for deserting his vessel, than to meet the certain vengeance
which awaited him if he were captured, he took to his boat and escaped. The
second Holker, built in 1814, of 400 tons, 20 guns, was cast away in a severe
snow storm on the coast of Long Island; having overrun her reckoning. Tradition
says that he keel was laid on a Friday. The Macedonian, same size, was built the
same year. The Saranac and Boxer were built for the government in 1815, the
former 373 tons, the later 367 tons, each 16 guns. In CHURCHILLs' yard, 12,500
tons of shipping were built between 1806 and 1816. Charles and David CHURCHILL
employed from 40 to 50 men. The name of "CHURCHILL's Landing" was given tot hat
part of the Meadow where they built. At one time this was looked upon as the
business locality of the town, with prospects of becoming a large village,
notwithstanding the freshets which every spring covered the whole vicinity with
water. Here was the largest store in town, here was the ball room for
assemblies, here were brought immense logs from Somersic, 80 feet long,
straight, first growth. The yard was sold to S. GILDERSLEEVE in 1828.

Elizur ABBEY's shipyard was in the meadow near the stone bridge. He
built 35 vessels from 70 to 300 tons, the last being the schooner Charles H.
Northam, built in 1853.

David and Daniel WHITE also carried on the
business of shipbuilding in the meadow, at the same time as Captain CHURCHILL,
their yard being situated between CHURCHILL's Landing (now called Siam) and the
GILDERSLEEVE yard.

Sylvester GILDERSLEEVE began shipbuilding near the
present yard in 1821; November 20th 1838, he purchased the LEWIS yard from Abel,
son of George LEWIS. The first vessel built here was a sloop, The Boston Packet,
of 70 tons, Seth OVERTON jr., of Chatham, captain.

In 1836, he built the
schooner William Bryan, the first vessel sailing as a regular packet from New
York to Texas. From this arose the New York and Galveston Line. Between 1847 and
1850, five ships belonging to this line were built at the GILDERSLEEVE yard, the
largest, 700 tons. They are named after the Texas patriots: Stephen F. AUSTIN,
B. R. MILAN, William B. TRAVIS, J. W. FANNING, William H. WHARTON.

In
1854, the ship S. GILDERSLEEVE was built. She was burnt by the Alabama, while on
a voyage to China, and paid for out of the "Alabama fund." In 1861, Mr.
GILDERSLEEVE built the steam gunboat Cayuga, for the United States Government.

The marine railway of S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons was constructed in
1877, at a cost of nearly $8,000. The track is 400 feet in length, laid on piles
two feet apart. The gearing and chains are of heavy metal, the latter having
been subjected to severe tests. The whole is in very respect substantially
built, and is of sufficient strength for handling vessels of 800 tons and under
with ease and safety. These railways have been in constant use since they were
first laid, for repairing and rebuilding vessels.

The shipyard, saw
mill, etc., of S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, give employment to a large number of
persons. Many vessels of various kinds are sent here for repairs. A list of the
vessels built here is appended.

VESSELS
BUILT BY S. GILDERSLEEVE & SONS.

No.

Date

Rig.

Name of Vessel

Name of Captain

Names of Owners

Ton-nage

Valua-tion

1

1821

Sloop

Boston Packet

Seth OVERTON jr.

Seth OVERTON, of Chatham

70

$3,500

2

1823

Sloop

Caravan

Seth OVERTON jr.

Seth OVERTON, of Chatham

50

2,500

3

1824

Sloop

Gordon

G. WHITMORE

Gordon WHITMORE and others

80

3,800

4

1826

Schooner

Stranger

H. CHURCHILL

Joel HALL and others, of Chatham

175

8,000

5

1826

Sloop

Emily

Seth JOHNSON

Joel HALL and others, of Chatham

120

5,800

6

1826

Sloop

Mary

C. BRAINERD

Joel HALL and others, of Chatham

105

5,000

7

1827

Sloop

Planter

Edward HALL

Joel HALL and others, of Chatham

110

5,300

8

1827

Sloop

Albany

Wanten RANSOM

Joel HALL and others, of Chatham

125

6,000

9

1828

Schooner

China

H. CHURCHILL

Joel HALL and others, of Chatham

180

10,000

10

1828

Schooner

Aspasia

Norman PEASE

Norman PEASE, of Hartford

180

9,000

11

1829

Schooner

Boston

Daniel WEBER

Joel HALL and others, of Chatham

155

7,500

12

1829

Sloop

Niagara

W. RANSOM

Joel HALL and others, of Chatham

135

6,500

13

1830

Sloop

Jane

Robert WILLIAMS

Joel HALL and others, of Chatham

115

5,500

14

1831

Schooner

Deborah

S. GILDERSLEEVE; BIGELOW & BANGS, of Boston

135

6,000

15

1831

Sloop

Jane Maria

R. CAREY

Joel HALL and others, of Chatham

115

5,000

16

1831

Brig

Frances Ann

N. PEASE

Norman PEASE, of Hartford, Conn.

225

10,000

17

1832

Sloop

Franklin

HUNTINGS

Allen STEWART and Captain HUNTINGS

100

4,500

18

1832

Brig

Statira

S. GILDERSLEEVE; R. T. HICKS, of New York

190

9,000

19

1833

Schooner

Mary

S. HALL

Henry CHURCHILL, and others, of Chatham, Conn.

160

7,500

20

1833

Schooner

Lydia

N. PEASE

Henry CHURCHILL, and others, of Chatham, Conn.

160

7,500

21

1833

Schooner

Mary Shields

Levi STEWART

Levi STEWART and others

125

6,000

22

1834

Schooner

Brace

W. RANSOM

Joel HALL and others

160

7,000

23

1834

Schooner

Mary Jane

A. WILCOX

Joel HALL and others

160

7,000

24

1834

Schooner

Erie

NYE

Asaph and David HALL

140

6,000

25

1835

Schooner

Henrietta

WHITMORE

Joel HALL and others

160

7,000

26

1835

Sloop

Amelia

JOHNSON

Joel HALL and others

125

5,500

27

1835

Sloop

Julia

HILLARD

Seth OVERTON and others

70

3,000

28

1835

Sloop

Orion

CHENEY

RUSSELL & HALL

125

5,500

29

1835

Schooner

Henrietta Jane

RAIN & MORGAN, of New York

160

7,000

30

1836

Sloop

Mary Elizabeth

A. STRICKLAND

Asa STRICKLAND and others, of Chatham, Conn.

100

4,500

31

1836

Schooner

Octavia

H. CHURCHILL

Henry CHURCHILL and others

200

10,000

32

1836

Sloop

Joel Hall

J. I. WORTHINGTON

Joel HALL and others of Chatham, Connecticut

125

5,500

33

1836

Schooner

Wm. Bryan

J. J. HENDLEY

Wm. And J. J. HENDLEY, S. GILDERSLEEVE and A. KEITH

150

8,000

34

1837

Schooner

Marion

F. GOODSPEED

RUSSELL & HALL, Chatham, Connecticut

125

6,000

35

1837

Schooner

Shoal Water

S. JOHNSON

S. JOHNSON and others, Chatham, Connecticut

60

3,500

36

1838

Schooner

Eliot

B. MURLY

Ebenezer FLOWER, Hartford, Connecticut

125

6,000

37

1838

Brig

Isabella

S. GILDERSLEEVE; J. W. ALSOP, New York

250

11,500

38

1839

Sloop

Samuel Hall

Wm. LAWRENCE

Joel HALL and others, Chatham, Connecticut

100

5,000

39

1839

Sloop

Phoenix

Evelyn WHITE

Evelyn WHITE and O. G. TERRY

100

5,000

40

1839

Schooner

Robert Mills

J. J. HENDLEY

Wm. HENDLEY & Co., and S. GILDERSLEEVE

200

10,000

41

1840

Sloop

Henry

Henry BACON

Daniel RUSSELL and others, Portland, Connecticut

100

5,000

42

1840

Brig

Sterling

RISLEY

Chas. PERRY and others, Southport, Connecticut

400

20,000

43

1841

Scow

Star

Warren TAYLOR

BROOKS, JACKMAN and others, Cromwell, Connecticut

50

2,000

44

1841

Brig

Mary

Wm. W. WAKEMEN and others, Southport, Conn.

280

14,000

45

1841

Schooner

Cornelia

HINCKLEY

J. W. DAVIS and C. PERRY, Southport, Connecticut

250

12,500

46

1842

Barque

Star Republic

J. J. HENDLEY

Wm. HENDLEY & Co., S. GILDERSLEEVE and others

476

22,000

47

1843

Ferry Boat

Middletown

BROOKS

BROOKS & DAVIS, Middletown, Connecticut

25

2,000

48

1844

Sloop

Lone Star

KNAPP

Wm. HENDLEY & Co. and S. GILDERSLEEVE

85

5,000

49

1844

Brig

Empire

LEWIS

Z. B. WAKEMAN and others, Southport, Conn.

350

17,500

50

1845

Ship

Hartford

SIMERMAN

J. GODFREY, W. W. WAKEMAN, & others, Southport, Ct.

700

30,000

51

1845

Schooner

Silas BRAINERD

Geo. HILLIARD

E. & S. BRAINERD, Portland, Conn

125

6,000

52

1846

Schooner

J. G. McNeil

TENTERTON

Wm. HENDLEY & Co., and S. GILDERSLEEVE

90

5,000

53

1846

Ship

Marion

ROBERTSON

Henry PERRY and others, Southport, Conn.

600

27,000

54

1846

Schooner

Nathan Shaler

John MCCLEVE

SHALER & HALL Quarry Co., Portland, Conn.

135

6,500

55

1846

Schooner

Uncle Bill

SHEFFIELD

Wm. HENDLEY & Co. and S. GILDERSLEEVE

90

5,000

56

1847

Ship

Harmonia

Henry CHURCHILL

DUNHAM & DIMON and others

950

35,000

57

1847

Ship

Stephen F. Austin

D. N. MORSE

Wm. HENDLEY & Co., S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, & others

625

28,000

58

1848

Ship

B. R. Milan

A. M. ALLEN

Wm. HENDLEY & Co., S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, & others

650

29,000

59

1848

Ship

W. B. Travis

J. B. BOWLES

Wm. HENDLEY & Co., S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, & others

850

33,000

60

1849

Ship

J. W. Fanning

Peter NORRIS

Wm. HENDLEY & Co., S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, & others

500

25,000

61

1850

Ship

Wm. H. Wharton

Gurdon GATES

Wm. HENDLEY & Co., S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, & others

1,000

37,000

62

1850

Schooner

Joseph Hall

W. S. COE

Middlesex Quarry Co., Portland, Conn.

155

7,500

63

1850

Schooner

Freestone

Martin BROOKS

E. & S. BRAINERD and others, Portland, Conn.

140

6,800

64

1851

Schooner

George Gillum

J. B. CARY

Middlesex Quarry Co., Portland, Conn.

145

7,000

65

1851

Barque

Harvest

NICHOLS

E. SHERWOOD and others, Southport, Conn.

550

23,000

66

1851

Schooner

Frederick Hall

RUSSELL

Owners of BRAINERD Quarry, Portland, Conn.

155

7,500

67

1851

Schooner

Ellen M. Duffield

Geo. HILLARD

Owners of BRAINERD Quarry, Portland, Conn.

150

7,500

68

1851

Schooner

Joseph Rodgers

J. I. WORTHINGTON

Middlesex Quarry Co., Portland, Conn.

150

7,500

69

1852

Schooner

Hannah E. Chave

Dwight JOHNSON

Owners of SHALER and HALL Quarry Co., Portland, Conn.

135

6,500

70

1852

Ship

Ravenswood

Cooper N. JOHNSON

S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons; Wm. NELSON & Son, of N. Y.

1,000

38,000

71

1853

Schooner

Lion

WHITEHEAD, North Carolina

175

8,500

72

1853

Schooner

Eagle

WHITEHEAD, North Carolina

175

8,500

73

1853

Pilot Boat

S. N. Williams

L. M. HITCHOX

L. M. HITCHCOX, Galveston, Texas

75

5,000

74

1854

Schooner

Jane M. Brainerd

Henry RUSSELL

Owners of BRAINERD Quarry, Portland, Conn.

145

7,000

75

1854

Ship

S. GILDERSLEEVE

Cicero BROWN

S. & H. GILDERSLEEVE, Wm. & J. J. HENDLEY, J. H. BROWER, C.
BROWN

1,400

59,000

76

1854

Barge

E. M. Clark

Amos CLARK

O. G. TERRY, Hartford, Conn.

300

8,000

77

1855

Schooner

James Lawrence

J. GODFREY and others, Southport, Conn.

400

17,000

78

1855

Barque

J. Godfrey

J. GODFREY and others, Southport, Conn.

600

25,000

79

1856

Propeller

Parthenia

Evelyn WHITE

GLEASON & WILLARD, E. WHITE, S. & H. GILDERSLEEVE

275

20,000

80

1856

Schooner

Annie J. Russell

Chas HODGE

Middlesex Quarry Co., Portland, Conn.

170

8,500

81

1857

Ship

National Guard

Geo. GATES

J. H. BROWER & Co., S. & H. GILDERSLEEVE, Wm. & J. J.
HENDLEY

1,500

55,000

82

1859

Barque

J. C. Kuhn

D. N. MORSE

S. & H. GILDERSLEEVE, Wm. & J. J. HENDLEY, J. H. BROWER &
co.

1,100

40,000

83

1859

Steam Ferry Boat

The Spare Boat

H. LEONARD

Middletown Ferry Co.

45

3,500

84

1860

Schooner

Free Wind

E. R. JONES

S. & H. GILDERSLEEVE and others

260

10,000

85

1861

Steam Gunboat

Cayuga

U. S. Government

500

125,000

86

1862

Propeller

Dudley Buck

Hartford & New York Steamboat Co.

350

35,000

87

1862

Brig

Rival

APPLEGATE

Wm. W. WAKEMAN and others, Southport Conn.

600

26,000

88

1863

Steamship

America

SHARE

WAKEMANN, DIMON & Co. & S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons

900

85,000

89

1864

Steamship

United States

Gurdon GATES

WAKEMANN, DIMON & Co. & S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons

1,600

150,000

90

1864

Schooner

E. F. Meany

J. O. WILCOX

Middlesex Quarry Co., Portland, Conn

200

14,000

91

1864

Schooner

J. I. Worthington

J. S. WORTHINGTON

J. I. and J. S. WORTHINGTON & S. & H. GILDERSLEEVE

325

19,500

92

1865

Schooner

Helen Augusta

John MCCLEVE

S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, H. G. HUBBARD and others

250

17,800

93

1865

Schooner

Emily S. GILDERSLEEVE

John CARROLL

H. G. HUBBARD, S. GILDERSLEEVE and others

325

21,700

94

1866

Schooner

Florence H. Allen

H. FULLER

H. FULLER, S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons and others

500

33,400

95

1866

Schooner

Henry Harteau

W. S. COE

Middlesex Quarry Co., Portland, Conn.

200

16,500

96

1866

Schooner

David Carrie

S. PADDOCK

Owners of SHALER & HALL Quarry Co. and S. G. & Sons

260

21,500

97

1867

Schooner

Mary E. Rankin

Lewis CROSBY

Lewis CROSBY and others

425

28,000

98

1867

Schooner

Marcia S. Lewis

Enoch LEWIS

Enoch LEWIS

325

28,000

99

1868

Barque

Savine

Lewis BREAKER

S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, C. H. MALLORY

1,300

65,000

100

1868

Schooner

F. G. RUSSELL

R. CLARK

Middlesex Quarry Co., Portland, Conn.

250

18,000

101

1870

Barque

Brazos

H. FULLER

S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, C. H. MALLORY & co., FULLER and others

1,500

67,500

102

1870

Steam Ferry boat

Portland

Chas. HAMILTON

Middletown Ferry Co.

300

30,000

103

1871

Ice Barge

Protection

Consumers Ice Co., New York, N. Y.

80

20,000

104

1871

Steamer

J. W. Allison

Wm. CHURCHILL

E. BRAINERD, S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, CHURCHILL, &c.

175

18,500

105

1871

Steamer

Middlesex

J. N. BUELL

Middlesex Quarry Co., Portland, Conn.

260

27,000

106

1872

Steamship

City of Dallas

C. H. DELAMATER & Co. and S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons

1,100

110,000

107

1873

Schooner

Louise Pl Mallory

H. H. STETSON

S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, A. J. BENTLEY, C. BROWN, and others

550

28,300

108

1873

Ice Barge

H. J. BEAN

Consumers Ice Co., of New York, N. Y.

800

22,000

109

1874

Schooner

Ruth Robinson

N. F. ROGERS

S. GILDERSLEEVE, H. G. HUBBARD, C. BROWN, and others

725

34,000

110

1874

Schooner

Leona

GORDON

J. H. BROWER, New York, N.Y.

350

2,000

111

1874

Schooner

Ada G. Shortland

H. B. DOANE

S. F. SHORTLAND, S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, C. BROWN, &c.

425

24,800

112

1874

Ice Barge

Minot F. Winch

New York City Ice Co., N. Y.

800

20,500

113

1875

Ice Barge

Wm. Kemp

New York City Ice Co., N. Y.

800

30,500

114

1875

Ice Barge

Wm. Nelson

National Ice Co. of N. Y.

800

20,000

115

1876

Ice Barge

J. W. Mason

National Ice Co. of N. Y.

800

19,000

116

1876

Ice Barge

Robert Burns

National Ice Co. of N. Y.

900

19,000

117

1876

Lightship

No. 41

U. S. Government

300

45,00

118

1877

Oil Barge

Nameless

Chas. PRATT & Co., New York, N. Y.

300

3,000

119

1879

Schooner

Rebecca

R. T. SPAULDING

S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, and others

250

12,500

120

1880

Oil Barge

Nautilus

Chas. PRATT & Co., New York, N. Y.

300

5,000

121

1880

Oil Barge

Neptune

Chas. PRATT & Co., New York, N. Y.

300

5,000

122

1880

Oil Barge

Navigator

Chas. PRATT & Co., New York, N. Y.

300

5,000

123

1880

Oil Barge

Novelty

Chas. PRATT & Co., New York, N. Y.

300

5,000

124

1880

Oil Barge

Nimrod

Chas. PRATT & Co., New York, N. Y.

300

5,000

125

1880

Oil Barge

Nymph

Chas. PRATT & Co., New York, N. Y.

300

5,000

126

1880

Lighter

Chas E. Goin

C. H. MALLORY & Co., New York, N. Y.

300

4,000

127

1880

Lighter

C. F. Deering

C. H. MALLORY & Co., New York, N. Y.

300

4,000

128

1881

Lighter

P. C. Golder

C. H. MALLORY & Co., New York, N. Y.

325

4,500

129

1881

Lighter

S. A. Walker

C. H. MALLORY & Co., New York, N. Y.

325

4,500

130

1882

Lighter

Hotchkiss

C. H. MALLORY & Co., New York, N. Y.

325

4,500

131

1882

Schooner

Emily Shepard

E. COGGINS

S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, N. SHEPARD, and others

325

16,000

132

1883

Lighter

Sam'l B. Baker Jr.

C. H. MALLORY & Co.

400

6,00

133

1883

Schooner

Emily F. Northam

H. H. STETSON

S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons, Capt. STETSON, N. SHEPARD, and others

650

25,500

134

1884

Ice Barge

S. T. W. Sandford

National Ice Co., of New York

825

16,000

135

1884

Ice Barge

Wm. De Groot

National Ice Co., of New York

825

16,000

49,620

$2,406,700

PORTLAND
QUARRIES.

Previous to
1665, the inhabitants of Middletown, though the knew of the great masses of
brown stone, which overhung the river on its eastern ban, nearly opposite the
town, and though they made use of this easily obtained material in various ways,
had no conception of the vast treasurers which lay hidden around and beneath
"The Rocks," as the huge detached masses were termed. At first the loose
fragments were used for building purposes and for gravestones by the neighboring
settlers, but soon persons from other places sought these stones, and quarry
work was begun on the cliffs which jutted out over the river in places. The
inhabitants of Middletown began to realize in some degree the worth o these
immense deposits of a stone which was everywhere found valuable and in
increasing demand.

"At a town meeting September 4th 1665, it was
Voted-That whosoever shall dig or raise stone at ye rocks on the East side of
the Great river for any without the town, the diggers shall be none but an
inhabitant of Middletown and shall be responsible to ye town 12 pence per tunn
for every tunn of stone that he or they shall dig for any person whosoever
without ye towne, this money to be paid in wheat and pease, to ye townsmen or
their assigns, for the use of the towne, within six months after the
transportation of said stone."

"It was also agreed; That the Inhabitants
do freely give Mr. RICHARDS this first freight which skipper PLUMB is now taking
in."

Here is probably the first quarryman recorded to have shipped a
vessel load from these quarries, though undoubtedly much stone had been carried
off in scows and boats of different kinds. It would be impossible now to
ascertain at what time the high shelving rocks had disappeared, and the stone
must be procured farther inland and by digging below the surface of the ground.
Perhaps as the stone lying upon the surface were removed the townsmen became
alarmed lest the supply should fail, for all transportation was soon prohibited.

"At a Town Meeting March 4th 1715 the town by Voat doe prohibit all
persons getting any stone in the town Quarry on the East side of the Great River
for transportation out of the town, and whosoever shall presume to get and to
transport any stone for the future contrary to this act of the town shall
forfeit the sum of 20 shillings a stone for every stone by him or them
transported out of the town, or sold in order to transportation (one half to him
who complains and prosecutes the other half to the town)."

Ebenezer GILL
was appointed to take charge of the town's quarry on the east side the river,
and December 29th 1726 the town appointed and empowered the selectmen "annually
to take effectual care of the rocks and quarries on the east and west sides the
Great River." They were also empowered to lease or to grant liberty to
particular persons to get stone, but it was declared that no inhabitant should
be debarred from getting any stone for their own particular use.

As
early as 1690, James STANCLIFF owned considerable land on the "Rocks," partly
bought of the town and partly granted to him in consideration of his services as
a stone mason "in building the town's chimneys." It was about six acres, and lay
in the rear, and is now a part of the BRAINERD Quarry. His house stood near here
in 1690.

THE OLD SHALER & HALL QUARRY.-The quarry which was first
opened in this vicinity was afterward disposed of by the town to various
parties, and at length passed into the possession of SHALER (or SHAYLOR, as the
name is spelled in an old chart of Chatham) and HALL. This was in 1788. They
began the active work of quarrying, and carried it on vigorously for some years,
and this was long known as the "SHALER & HALL Quarry." In 1791 this firm
bought the ground now known as the SHALER & HALL Quarry. In this first
quarry, from 1810 to 1820, thirty hands were employed eight months in the year
and from four to six teams. "The quantity of stone prepared for market was then
regarded as very great, though small in comparison with what is now prepared."

THE TOWN QUARRY.-In 1796, as there still remained quarry land which had
not been disposed of, "At a meeting of the proprietors of the common and
undivided lands of Middletown and Chatham it was voted: that what remains
undivided of the two quarries in Middletown and Chatham remain for the use of
the inhabitants of said towne to get stone for their own particular use, or for
the general use of their of said towns."

At a proprietors' meeting,
April 14th 1812, a committee was appointed to give a deed of the quarries to the
towns of Middletown and Chatham equally. This committee failing to act, January
29th 1822, Joshua STOW of Middletown, and Seth OVERTON, of Chatham, were
appointed to execute a deed of the quarries in favor of the town of Middletown
and Chatham. A committee was also appointed to investigate titles. March 18th
1822, these deeds were accepted by the towns interested, and by an act of the
Legislature passed at the May session of the same year, all individual rights
were extinguished. June 17th 1822, a number of hands, under the direction of a
committee previously appointed by the town, commenced opening the quarry in
Chatham, and the work was continued without interruption other than the winter
season, and occasional disputes in relation to boundaries, etc. It was estimated
by the committee that the value of the quarry had increased to the same amount
as money had been expended on it; which sum was stated to be not less than
$1,000. April 21st 1824, it was.

"Voted, to give to Washington College
the net profits and rents of our interest in the Quarries at Chatham and
Middletown until the net profits and rents of said Quarries shall amount to
$20,000 on condition that said College be located and continue in said town.

September 6th 1824, the town of Middletown leased to John Lawrence LEWIS
the town quarry at Chatham for a term of five years for the purpose of quarrying
stone to erect buildings "to be occupied by Capt. PARTRIDGE as a scientific and
military academy." Capt. PARTRIDGE's school having been given up in 1829, June
19th 1830, the quarry was leased to Joel HALL and E. & S. BRAINERD for a
term of five years. Before this time expired, and while inducements were being
held out by the town of Middletown and vicinity to Wesleyan University to locate
in Middletown, it was voted (on the fourth Monday in November 1833),

"That the interest of the town in the town quarry at Chatham should be
appropriated to the use and benefit of the Wesleyan University for the period of
forty years, on condition that when the net amount of the avails thereof shall
equal the sum of ten thousand dollars within said period said grant shall
cease."

The benefit of this grant was enjoyed till 1860, during which
time the fine university buildings which are the pride of Middletown, were
erected of the stone taken from this quarry. The "Town's Quarry," which was a
little over two acres in extent, was held and managed by the town until August
1884, when it was bought by the two adjoining corporations, The BRAINERD Quarry
Company taking two-thirds of it and the Middlesex quarry Company one-third. The
price paid was $20,000, which was divided between Middletown, Cromwell,
Portland, and Chatham. This quarry had been worked to the depth then considered
practicable. For some years past it had been leased by the BRAINERD Quarry
Company for a scrappling ground or place of deposit for stone, partly also on
account of the river frontage. They built a freshet wall at an expense of
$20,000, six feet in width at the bottom, laid on the solid rock.

The
"Town's Quarry," in which any of the townsmen had for nearly 200 years the right
to dig stone for their cellars, steps, walks, etc., has thus become extinct, and
with it the office of town quarry agent; the last incumbent of this office being
William H. BEEBE.

THE BRUSH POND QUARRY.-Some time prior to 1767, a
quarry was worked below the present bridge of the Air Line Railroad, near where
the Middletown ferry was then located. It was called the Brush Pond Quarry, and
for some reason was soon abandoned.

THE BRAINERD QUARRY.-In 1783,
HURLBURT & ROBERTS began work here. They sold the quarry to Erastus and
Silas BRAINERD, brothers, who came here from Middle Haddam. From about 1812 to
1884, the business was conducted under a partnership firm, and was managed by
Erastus and Silas BRAINERD & Co. during the greater portion of this period;
the firm name being E. & S. BRAINERD till 1857, then Erastus BRAINERD &
Co. Silas BRAINERD died in 1857, and Erastus BRAINERD sen. Died in 1861. The
business was managed by the surviving partners till 1884, when the "BRAINERD
Quarry Company" was organized and incorporated. The officers of the company are:
Erastus BRAINERD, president and general manager; Robert G. PIKE, secretary;
Benjamin F. BRAINERD, treasurer.

This company employs upward of 300
workmen, 45 yoke of oxen, and 36 horses. They also employ from 12 to 16
schooners in transporting stone to various markets along the coast. Large
quantities are also shipped by rail to the interior and to the Western States.
Four steam engines are used in hoisting stone, and in pumping water from the
quarry. One 60-horse power engine carries a large double-acting cylinder pump
capable of discharging from 15 to 20 hogsheads of water per minute. Excavations
have been made to the depth of 200 feet. The amount of stone produced annually
is about 300,000 cubic feet. This stone is shipped to all parts of the country,
and is used for elegant private residences, churches, and other public
buildings, monuments, bridges, docks, piers, etc.

A large old elm stands
before the office of the company. When this tree was a sapling, it stood on the
bank of the "Great River," which now flows many feet distant, and boats were
then fastened to rings in its trunk. The retirement of the river is due to an
artificial formation made from quarry waste, along the whole front of the
quarries, by the labors of the last 80 years. It varies in depth from 14 to 28
feet. The trunk of this elm was 21 feet high before the branches began. It now
stands 28 feet below the present surface of the ground. Stones piled around its
base, and continued upward, allow some circulation of air. There was a shipyard
here in early times, owned by Captain Moses BUSH, who built ships for the
government during the Revolution. Where the present "quarry pit" is was a hill
called Shipyard Hill, and the boys of 70 years ago coasted from its summit
across the frozen river. The old house now standing on the brink of the quarry
is the "BUSH house." Tradition says that the office was in the boughs of the elm
tree mentioned above, and was reached by a ladder, and here all hands were
regularly "piped to grog" in the old nautical style. There is also an old elm in
the SHALER & HALL Quarry, which stand 14 feet below the present surface.

THE MIDDLESEX QUARRY.-In 1819, a quarry was opened by Robert PATTEN and
Daniel RUSSEL above the old SHALER & HALL Quarry. The firm at first was
PATTEN & RUSSELL and afterward became RUSSELL & HALL. In 1841 this
quarry was united with the original SHALER & HALL property, and the firms
were incorporated under the name of the Middlesex Quarry Company. Their present
officers are: F. W. RUSSELL, president and agent; Charles A. JARVIS, secretary
and treasurer; Henry CORNWELL, superintendent; directors, F. W. RUSSELL,
Ferdinand GILDERSLEEVE, Henry GILDERSLEEVE, J. I. WORTHINGTON, C. F. BROWNING.
Thomas MURDOCK is general engineer and W. J. STUART is in charge of locomotive.
This quarry employs 45 yoke of cattle and 16 horses, and sends its stone to
market in five schooners and one steamer, owned by the company, hiring other
vessels when required. They have recently laid a railroad track to run entirely
around the quarry, and placed thereon an engine and six cars, which will be used
in carrying stone, quarry waster, earth, rubbish, etc., thus doing away with the
expense and trouble of keeping oxen, which have been used for this work
heretofore. They have several steam hoisting engines, cranes, pumps, etc., with
the most improved machinery. The largest engine was made by T. R. PICKERING
& Co., of Portland. The Middlesex Quarry Company have filled out 75 feet for
a wharf.

THE SHALER & HALL QUARRY.-This is sometimes called the
"Lower Quarry," being the first seen on approaching from the railroad or
Middletown ferry. The ground was bought by SHALER & HALL in 1791, while they
were carrying on quarrying in their upper property, then known as the SHALER
& HALL Quarry." When this title was dropped, in consequence of the
incorporation of the Middlesex Quarry Company, it was carried to the new field
of operations. The SHALER & HALL Quarry Company was organized in April 1844.
The first directors were: Joel HALL, Samuel HALL, Samuel RUSSEL, Edwin F.
JOHNSON, and Ebenezer JACKSON. Joel HALL was president, and Samuel HALL,
secretary.

They have excavated to the present time five acres, to the
depth of 150 feet. Three hundred men are employed annually in quarrying and
dressing the stone. Five steam derricks are used in hoisting the stone from the
pit, and 22 pair of cattle and 14 horses are used in drawing stone to the
vessels and cars for shipment. Eight vessels of various tonnage are employed in
carrying stone to different markets; besides large quantities shipped by cars.
Stone sales are annually about $200,000.

THE OLD GRAVE YARD.-The old grave yard
which crowned a hill nearly in the center of the quarries and was until recently
a strange and anomalous feature of its busy precincts, was granted by the town
of Middletown to the inhabitants on the east side in 1712; "one acre between the
land of James STANCLIFF and the Great River for a burial place." The first
person laid here was Samuel HALL, who died February 22d 1712. Perhaps the
inclemency of the season, or the breaking up of this river at this time
prevented interment on the other side of the river, as had before this been the
custom. Afterward it continued to be used by the First Society as a place of
burial until land for a cemetery was bought nearer the church and laid out in
1767. Even after this an occasional burial took place, the last, that of George
BUSH, being as late as 1843. Thus, for many years, the old grave yard remained,
silent in the midst of noise and clamor, a desert island set in an ever flowing
and ebbing tide of laborers and cattle, green and blossoming with wild roses or
golden rod amid the prevailing somber tint, a quiet, peaceful spot to look upon,
yet the subject of much dispute and litigation, the battle ground of courts and
corporations; elbowed on every side by busy Labor and his master, Enterprise,
who looked with practical eyes at the treasurers of stone beneath the scanty
five to ten feet of soil, in which, under the carven cherub heads, slanting at
unseemly angles, had reposed for nearly two centuries the dust of the pioneers,
"Lying low,

'Neath the daisies or the snow;

What care they, they
cannot know."

The vexed question was finally settled, and the Middlesex
and Brainerd Quarry Companies became the purchasers; the First Ecclesiastical
Society receiving $6,000.

The Legislature ordered the removal of the
remains and appointed O. H. PLATT as commissioner for that duty. The earth was
removed to a depth of several feet and deposited on land bought for that purpose
in the real of the Episcopal cemetery. The stones were then carefully replaced
in their original order, an exact record having been made of the inscription on
every stone. This mode of procedures cost the quarry companies a large sum.
William SELLEW superintended the removal.

THE WORK OF QUARRYING.-A brief
description of the methods of working the quarries will doubtless prove
interesting to many. Few people beside those actually employed in the quarries
are familiar with these methods, and some even who have lived all their lives in
the vicinity have only a vague idea of this great industry. The work of
quarrying begins about the last of March, or as soon as the river is open to
navigation, and is steadily pursued until the close of November. The stone, when
first taken out, is saturated with moisture, or "sap," as the quarrymen call it,
and if it is exposed to the action of frost before it is dry, it becomes
disintegrated and worthless. For this reason time is allowed for the stone to
season before freezing weather, as, once seasoned, frost cannot affect it; and
the surface of the rock, where exposed, is covered with soil. "The work of
excavation is materially assisted by the rocks being broken up into natural beds
by parallel or nearly parallel fissures extending downward to an indefinite
depth, verging slightly from the perpendicular, and in some instances sloping to
an angle of 25 degrees." These fissures are called by the quarrymen "joints." At
right angles to these joints are "keys" or cracks extending to one or more
strata, so that the blocks of stone "lie in the beds from two to twenty feet
thick, from 20 to 100 feet wide, and from 50 to 300 feet long, with generally a
southeasterly dip." These joints and keys facilitate the work of quarrying. The
earth and rubbish are first removed until the rock is exposed. It is then split
by wedges and hammers when cut parallel to the strata. If contrary to the
strata, greater force must be used, and blasting is resorted to if the strata
are very deep and close. The large mass being broken up the stone is readily
cut.

Blasting is quite generally done by means of electricity. From two
to four holes are drilled in the rock intended to be blasted, according to its
size and depth. These are charged with powder and connected with a battery by
copper wires, protected from the weather by a covering of gutta percha. By a
simultaneous discharge, the whole mass is moved without tearing it to pieces.
The larger pieces are tilted over and hurled to the bottom, together with the
debris. The large blocks are hoisted to the surface by the steam derricks. They
are then hauled by the ox teams to the scrappling grounds, "where they are cut
as straight and even as their irregular outlines will allow, the greatest care
being taken to break them as little as possible." This work is under the
supervision of men experienced in the business, and every stone is carefully
measured before it leaves the quarry. The descent into the "pit" is in some
places made by ladders, which are securely fastened to the rock, and the horses,
oxen, and wagons are let down and raised by derricks or cranes. The animals are
led into a huge box, a bar put in place, and they are swung off the brink, to be
lowered 150 feet into the quarry, and they appear too well accustomed to this
mode of reaching their work to show the least fear. The oxen are very large and
splendid specimens of their kind, but sometimes 12 or 14 yoke are seen dragging
the immense blocks of stone. There is a blacksmith shop in each quarry, and
extensive barns for the accommodation of the horses and oxen. The stone, after
being roughly dressed as mentioned above, are piled near the river bank and
shipped as required, by the different vessels employed for that purpose. Each
quarry has its wharf, cranes for loading the vessels, etc. As the cuttings in
places reach many feet below the bed of the river, each quarry has a steam pump
to carry off the accumulation of water. The great freshet of May 4th 1854,
rising above the level of the quarries, completely filled them. They were
emptied in ten days by the pumps, some of which threw a column of water 130 feet
long and 2 feet in diameter every minute. It will be readily seen that these
quarries must employ a small army of workmen. These would form an interesting
study of themselves. Nearly all nationalities are represented. The majority are
Swedes, who are strong and reliable and not given to strikes. The wages, hours
of labor, etc., are regulated by agreement between the quarry companies. The
workmen are cutters, rockmen, or teamsters, etc., according to their employment.
There are also bosses, measurers, timekeepers, etc. Every place where quarrying
is carried on has its "rock boss," who oversees the gang of workmen, has charge
of the blasting, etc. There are usually seven or eight rock bosses, each with
his gang of workmen, at work at once in the same quarry. Some of the men have
been working here more than half a century.

The supply of stone is
practically inexhaustible. Good stone has been found in several directions in
sinking wells, etc.; and the piers of the Air Line Bridge across the river, it
is said, rest upon a solid foundation of brown stone. It has been ascertained by
means of the diamond drill that the stone is found, corresponding in quality and
color with that now quarried, at the great depth of 313 feet. An interesting
experiment tried in the Middlesex Quarry, at the joint expense of the three
companies, revealed the fact just stated. The stone varies in all the quarries
from fine to course, stones from the same stratum sometimes showing a difference
in quality. The strata extend through all the quarries, with a southerly dip.
The pitch from the BRAINERD to the SHALER & HALL Quarry is about 20 feet.
Any one who has seen the Portland quarries will not forget the sight. The
immense blocks of stone, the magnificent oxen, the cheerful activity everywhere
manifested. The sheer walls of rock from 100 to 150 feet in height with the
black, sullen pools of water at their base hint at tragic possibilities, though
the fact is that accidents are few, and usually due to intoxication. The most
interesting feature of the quarries to scientific visitors is, of course, the
"tracks," where the gigantic birds or animals of prehistoric times left in the
soft sand untold ages gone. These are comprehensively treated of in another
place. Stories are told of toads having been found as much as 25 feet below the
surface in a joint lying close upon another.

DURABILITY OF THE
STONE.-The firm texture and great durability of the Portland stone is now well
known. It is also susceptible of receiving and retaining polish. It has steadily
risen in the estimation of the public from the first. But its greatest
recommendation to those who use it for building or for monuments to the memory
of the dead is its enduring quality, which defies the action of time and
weather, and renders it well nigh as imperishable as the everlasting hills from
which it is taken. In this respect it has been pronounced equal to granite. An
association was formed in Hartford in 1836 to "repair the waste of time and
accident among the monuments erected as memorials of their deceased ancestors"
in the old grave yard of that city which had been abandoned for about 30 years.
In the prosecution of this work:

"All the monuments were reset, in
number about five hundred, and the tables-many of which had been suffered to
fall-were rebuilt, supported by solid masonry, and when the monuments were
broken they were repaired by being fastened with iron clamps. During the
Revolutionary War some use was made of the Bolton stone; these had decayed
somewhat in the ground. All or nearly all the marble monuments of 30 years
standing, by the effects of the climate and the weather, were very much decayed;
the upper parts of them being decomposed and crumbling to pieces. It was found
very difficult to repair such of them as were broken, as they were not strong
enough to bear the force of drilling. A large proportion of the monuments were
of the Portland freestone. Some of these were over the graves of such as had
been dead 190 years and were not in the least affected by the weather, nor had
any of this description been injured by the seasons."

As the persons in
charge of these repairs had the best opportunity to note the waste of time and
accident and the damage caused by the alternations of the seasons to the various
monuments, more convincing testimony to the durability and permanent value of
the Portland stone could not be given. The account just quoted (which was
written in 1852), adds "the obelisk erected in the old cemetery, in connection
with these repairs is therefore wisely built of the Portland stone, bearing the
venerated names of the early settlers of Hartford."

The oldest
gravestones in the cemeteries of Portland are of the native brown stone, and
when the moss of nearly two centuries has been scraped away the carving is found
sharp and distinct, every work of the long epitaphs being easily read. The
gravestone of the first person buried in the town, bearing date 1712, is found
thus perfect. That this stone also resists the action of fire better than any
building stone known, was proved in the great fires at Chicago and Boston. It
was fitting then that the block sent from Connecticut, as her contribution to
the monument erected to the Great Father of His Country, at Washington, should
have been of Portland stone. It has already been placed in position in that
structure. The graceful arch which stood near the Connecticut building on the
grounds at Philadelphia will be remembered by many who visited the Centennial.
For carving and all kinds of ornamental stone work, brown stone is particularly
adapted.

The Soldiers' Monument in Portland is a fine example of the
capabilities of brownstone in lending itself to artistic expression. While many
might prefer the dazzling whiteness of marble, there is something in the soft,
quiet tint of brownstone which makes it harmonious to all surroundings; while
its durability renders it particularly appropriate for the decoration of parks
and pleasure grounds, in statues and fountains. It is well known that oiling
stone prevents decomposition, and brown stone is now sometimes oiled to preserve
it for a greater length of time; but whether oiled or not its great durability
beyond all doubt.

PROMINENT BUILDINGS.-The old HANCOCK house at Boston
was built of stone taken from these quarries, in 1737. The contract being
between Mr. Thomas HANCOCK, of Boston, and "Thomas JOHNSON of Middleton in the
County of Hartford and Colony of Connecticut in New England, Stone Cutter," and
JOHNSON was to receive the sum of "Three Hundred Pounds in Goods as the said
Stone-cutter's work is Carryed on." The house was removed not many years ago and
the stone found to be as good as when first used. A list of the modern buildings
include some of the handsomest structures in the country. The palace built by
William H. VANDERBILT, on Fifty avenue; the mansions of Frederick GALLATIN and
R. L. STUART, on Fifth avenue; that of George M. PULLMAN, Chicago; and George H.
CORLISS, Providence, R. I.; with the Union League Club House, Philadelphia, are
composed entirely of brownstone, decorated in many cases with the most elaborate
carving. Stone is now being sent from the Middlesex Quarry for the magnificent
residence of James FLOOD, in San Francisco. The blocks are sent from the quarry
to Newark, N. J., where they are dressed, carved, etc., ready to be put into the
building; they are then boxed carefully and sent by sea around Cape Horn. There
are 14 columns, 13 feet 2 inches high, and 22 inches square. The steps are 23
feet long. Two stones now at the quarry, not yet shipped, weigh 18 tons apiece.

Truly Portland has contributed in no small degree to the building up of
our country; and her contributions to the general good, not "clocks and wooden
nutmegs" but the imperishable product of uncounted ages, lifted from its
mysterious bed by appliances of modern skill, carved by the art which is the
supreme inheritance of the century; these "hewn stones after the similitude of a
palace" shall be poured forth from our quarries, till the cities of the New
World also stand "blossoming in stone."

PHYSICIANS AND DENTISTS.

The physicians
now resident in Portland are:

Cushmann A. SEARS, a native of East
Hampton. After a course of medical lectures at Pittsfield he studied one year
with Dr. STOCKING. He then attended the medical department of the University of
New York, and graduated in March 1862. After three years practice in Glastonbury
he removed to this place in 1865.

C. E. HAMMOND, born at Ellington, May
7th 1824. He was a private student of Dr. Alden SKINNER, of Vernon. He graduated
from the medical department of New York University in 1848. He practiced
medicine with Dr. SKINNER, his former preceptor, for four years then settled in
Glastonbury, where he practiced 17 years and came to Portland in 1870.

E. B. MORGAN was born at GOODSPEED's Landing in 1853. He studied one
year with Dr. TURNER, of Chester, and graduated at the Long Island Medical
College in 1881. He has practiced in this place two years.

Dentists.-Dr.
WEIGH was here several years.

Dr. Edwin DAY came here from Middle Haddam
about 1876. He removed to Ellsworth, Kansas, and is now mayor of that city.

Dr. H. J. FISK was born at Heath, Mass., was educated at Bloomfield,
Mass., studied dentistry in New York city, and came to Portland, October 19th
1878.

PROMINENT PERSONS FROM
PORTLAND.

Elihu
BARTLETT, son of Rev. Moses BARTLETT, graduated at Yale in 1804. He intended
studying theology, but his health did not permit. He settled in East Guilford,
now Madison, where he died in 1779, aged 36 years. (Transcribers note: The above
years are what are listed in the book.)

Asahel Hooker STRONG, son of Dr.
STRONG, born in Portland, ranked among the very first of his class. He was a
distinguished special pleader at the bar.

Dr. Ebenezer SAGE, a
physician, literary and political man, a member of Congress, settled in Hog
Harbor, L. I.

Daniel SHEPARD, graduate at Trinity, in 1836, was a
clergyman and teacher in Delhi, N. Y., where he died September 29th 1846.

Rev. William PAYNE, D. D., graduate of Trinity College, 1834, a
distinguished clergyman of the Episcopal church. Rector of a church in
Schenectady, N. Y.

From the very
first the bank of the river and the low lands of our town have been the lurking
places of malarious disease. In old times people built their houses back upon
the hills to avoid the "shakes." Their descendants live among it and learn to
endure it as "malaria." We do not find, however, any longer proportion of deaths
in respect to the population now than then. In 1758 "thirty or forty" are said
to have died with dysentery near Chatham quarry.

In 1777, the small-pox
prevailed to a great extent. It was probably brought by soldiers returning from
the army. The church record shows eight deaths at about the same time, 1777,
from this disease. It was also prevalent in 1781. Pest houses were built in
retired localities, and several hospitals were advertised, where persons could
be inoculated for the small-pox and go through it surrounded "with every
possible care and attention." This was esteemed a "safe and easy method."

February 20th 1800, we read of the departure of a party of seven to be
"inoculated for ye Small Pox at ye MESAWMESICK house." Three days afterward
their minister called upon them there. As to enter the house and go back to his
parish would have spread the contagion among those unprepared for it, he
probably "blessed them afar off." A few days after, a lady went out and returned
with the report that they had "plenty of it." All but one of these patients,
went through with the disease, were thoroughly "disinfected," and returned to
their homes in two weeks. In March 1801, a great number were inoculated for the
small-pox, on CHURCHILL Hill. The older citizens still remember these pest
houses, fenced off from the public road, with the ominous sign displayed; with
their arbitrary nurses who dictated the diet and kept the patients away from the
fire. A two weeks' residence at these rural resorts was considered a small price
to pay for immunity from the constant dread of contagion.

November 8th
1795, "Capt. BIDWELL's son John died as supposed of ye Philadelphia fever." This
was probably the yellow fever, which raged in Philadelphia in 1793. Its
character was not at first known. A letter from a gentleman in Philadelphia,
published in the Middlesex Gazette, calls it "a fever highly putrid and
contagious, in its operation very violent and rapid." It is not known whether
any other cases of this fever arose from the one mentioned. It was noticed that
"persons who caught the Distemper at Philadelphia died without communicating the
Infection to their friends, who in most cases were unapprised of the nature of
the Distemper." Chatham also suffered from yellow fever by direct importation
from Cape St. Nicholas in 1796. The disease, however, did not spread beyond
Middle Haddam.

Summer diseases of children seemed also quite prevalent
the latter pat of the last century, and the newspapers of that day contained
many extraordinary recipes for prevention and cure. "Very old cheese powdered"
and "Santa Cruz rum" seemed to be considered efficacious.

About 12 years
ago, the small-pox revisited the town, and there were several fatal cases.

POST
OFFICES.

Portland post
office was established in 1827. It was first kept in the building now occupied
by BRANSFIELD, afterward in the "brick store," now C. BELL's, in the building at
the corner of Main street and Waverly avenue, and then removed to its present
location in the EDWARDS block. The postmasters have been: George B. SMITH, from
1827 till June 20th 1833; his widow, Anne B. SMITH, from June 20th 1833 till
February 3d 1844; Charles Henry SAGE, from February 3d 1844 till April 11th
1849; John Payne, from April 11th 1849 till his death, July 21st 1852; William
S. STRICKLAND commenced July 1st 1852; Captain George H. TAYLOR served four
years; Guy COOPER, four years, till 1861; Richard EDWARDS, from 1861 till his
death, in 1864; his widow, Mary J. EDWARDS, from 1864 till her resignation,
October 1st 1879; Charles H. EDWARDS, since October 1st 1879.

The post
office at Gildersleeve was established in 1872. Ferdinand GILDERSLEEVE was at
that time appointed postmaster, and has held that position ever since.

Secretary and treasurer, W. H. EDWARDS;
librarian, H. F. FISK. There have been 350 volumes donated, and 100 purchased
with the legacy bequeathed by the late Miss Maria PAYNE. The library is located
at Dr. H. J. FISK's dental office. All persons paying a subscription of $1.00
are entitled to use the library for one year. There are 54 subscribers at
present.

PUBLIC
HALLS.

Waverly Hall
was built about 1868. It has a seating capacity of about 270. It is fitted with
a large stage, scenery, etc., and dressing rooms.

Gildersleeve Hall was
built in 1876, and presented to District No. 1 by Sylvester GILDERSLEEVE. It is
of sufficient size to comfortably seat about 200 persons. It has a stage, and is
well lighted and heated. It is at present occupied during the school houses by
the Gildersleeve High School.

THE ALMS
HOUSE.

This is the
same building which was formerly the almshouse for the town of Chatham and for
some time after Portland was set off it continued to be used by both towns. It
was formerly the custom on the 20th of March of each year to farm out the town
poor for one year. A new ell was built last year and the old one pulled down.
There are now eighteen or nineteen persons supported in the institution. Mr.
Titus S. MARKHAM has charge. The care of its poor cost the town of Portland for
1883, $5,028.50; of this sum $1,361.86 was almshouse account, $2,973.35 expended
for poor out of the almshouse, $179.76 for poor in other towns, and $513.53 for
the insane poor.

THE
SOLDIERS' MONUMENT.

At a special
town meeting, September 9th 1871, it was voted "that we erect a brown stone
monument to the memory of our dead soldiers." The monument was to cost $4,000,
and to be enclosed with a suitable fence. The committee to select a site and to
superintend the erection were: Frederick A. PARKER, Asaph STRONG, John I.
WORTHINGTON, Seth I. DAVIS, and Ferdinand GILDERSLEEVE.

The monument is
a graceful shaft of native brownstone, 33 feet in height, surmounted by a
life-like statue of a soldier standing at rest. It is placed in the northern
part of the village near the First Congregational Church. The cutting was done
at BATTERSON's in Hartford. Few towns possess so elegant yet imposing a monument
to their fallen heroes. It cost $4,500 in all. The front is ornamented with an
eagle and shield. The inscription reads:

ERECTED MAY 30TH 1872 BY THE
TOWN OF PORTLAND TO THE MEMORY OF HER BRAVE SONS, WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN
DEFENCE OF THE UNION DURING THE WAR OF THE REBELLION 1861-65." It bears the
names of Samuel N. GASTON, Grove L. BELL, Owen CHAPMAN, John GASMAN, Samuel
POTTER, Samuel SALISBURY, William DEBANK, Herman DEMAY, William FOSTER, Edward
F. PELTON, Patrick SCALON, Joel SMITH, all of the 20th Connecticut Volunteers;
James SMITH and Charles E. TRYON, of the 13th Connecticut Volunteers; Thomas
KENNEDY, William MCEWIN, Sidney VALENTINE, and Sherman VALENTINE, of the 7th
Connecticut Volunteers; Daniel SULLIVAN, 3d Connecticut Volunteers; Ezeriah
HALE, 16th Connecticut Volunteers; George EDWARDS, 21st Connecticut Volunteers;
Patrick BARRY, 24th Connecticut Volunteers; Michael FLANNIGAN and William J.
HALL, 1st Cavalry Connecticut Volunteers; George I. SMITH, 7th New Jersey
Volunteers; William MAHAR, 10th New York Volunteers; John COLTER, 99th New York
Volunteers; Dwight SIMPSON, 37th Massachusetts Volunteers; William MATTHEWS,
United States Navy.

There are in
Portland several fine collections of stuffed birds, etc. The first of these is
that made by W. W. COE. It is contained in a large and handsome room well
adapted to the purpose. Two large cases, eight feet high, with armory between,
fill the end of the apartment. There are about seven hundred specimens in all;
among them many rare birds, albinos, etc, including the mythical "white
blackbird." The birds are so skillfully stuffed, and the natural attitude so
well preserved in mounting, that there is no stiffness, as sometimes noticed in
such collections. There are also many nests, and at least 5-eggs.

Mr.
John SAGE has also a fine collection, some beautifully mounted, but the greater
part of bird skins, scientifically arranged. He has also a variety of nests, and
a large collection of eggs. Mr. SAGE has some very choice tropical birds.

Mr. Charles NEFF has about 125 varieties of mounted birds, together with
a large number of bird skins from different parts of the world, and 150
varieties of bird eggs in sets. Mr. NEFF's collection of Indian relics, a very
fine one, as already been alluded to.

Mr. James LORD has also a
collection of stuffed birds, to which he is constantly adding.

FERRIES.

Formerly
Portland was connected with the opposite towns of Middletown and Cromwell by two
ferries. The second, now discontinued, had its landing on this side at the end
of "WORTHINGTON Lane." Later the landing was at STEVEN's wharf or the "Navy
Yard," so called, and the ferryman was William NORCOTT. In more recent times the
landing was made at the old place, WORTHINGTON Lane, and the ferryman was
General STOCKING, as he was called. There has been no regular ferry here for
some years.

For years after the swift darting canoe of the Indian
crossing the river to hunt the deer had disappeared, the only communication
between Middletown and her eastern suburb was a clumsy "scow." Then it became a
flatboat, propelled by horse power. In 1847, the Legislature was petitioned to
remove the landing to the termination of the Main street, at Connecticut River.
Prior to this the landing had been made much father down, HALING was the last
ferryman here. June 31st 1852, the town voted to change the horse boat ferry to
a steam ferry, and the steam ferry boat Mattabesett was built and placed
thereon. The steamer Portland was built in 1870, and is still running.

GILDERSLEEVE ICE HOUSE.

The ice house
of S. GILDERSLEEVE & Sons was built in the all of 1878, at a cost of about
$10,000. It is 150 feet front, 100 feet deep, and 33 feet high, with two
compartments, making a storage capacity of 10,000 tons. It is fitted with steam
engine and endless chain elevator, capable of hoisting a tone of ice per minute.
About 75 men, with teams and ice tools, are employed from two to three weeks in
filling it, the length of time varying according to the weather; This is the
only ice house on the Connecticut River for shipping ice to New York and other
ports.

FIRES
AND FIRE COMPANY.

There have
been more large fires in Portland the past year than in the ten years previous.
The United States Stamping Company has been particularly unfortunate in this
respect. On the evening of March 1st 1881, their large factory and other
buildings were destroyed by fire, which it is supposed originated in the drying
room. A large quantity of finished goods was destroyed or injured, and all of
the machinery disabled. The total loss was estimated at $247,000. August 14th,
the stables were burned, together with two horses, hay, harness, sleigh, and
buggy; loss, $4,350. August 28th, another building was burned, with 300 bales of
hay, and the case used at the Centennial with most of the goods which formed
their exhibit; loss $2,200.

James LAVERTY's wholesale liquor store was
burned on the afternoon of June 4th 1884. It was quickly consumed, together with
a shop, livery stable, and Mr. LAVERTY's house. Spreading in the other direction
it destroyed eight other buildings, mostly houses belonging to the BRAINERD and
SHALER & HALL Quarries. The progress of the fire was checked by pulling down
the house adjoining Mr. LAVERTY's.

The Valley Mills were burned at about
2 o'clock A.M., March 10th 1884. The loss was nearly $15,000, partially covered
by an insurance of $8,000.

Portland Fire Company was incorporated in
1884. The officers are: John H. HALL, president; Lorin INGERSOLL,
vice-president; W. A. CHAPMAN, secretary and treasurer; Richard PASCALL,
foreman; L. O. BROWN, engineer. The company has a new fire engine, hose
carriage, and 600 feet of hose, which cost $1,750. The engine house cost $700.
The town appropriation for the fire company was $3,000.

CHURCHES.

FIRST
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH (BY Rev. John S. BAYNE)

Prior to 1700
there were but three houses in Portland. James STANCLIFF had built upon the
river bank, opposite Middletown; farther back lived John GILL; while at the base
of the hill beyond the Wangunk Meadow, on the left going toward Rose Hill school
house, resided William CORNWALL. In 1710, nine other families joined them,
forming the nucleus of a society.

The oldest record now extant, kept by
Samuel HALL, gives an account for the first meeting of the inhabitants on the
east side of the river, March 2d 1710, for the building of a meeting house for
the preaching of the gospel. A building committee was appointed, and 20 men
pledged themselves to pay their equal proportion, according to their estates, in
a bond of £20. This agreement was signed by John GILL, William CORNWALL sen.,
Samuel HALL, Nathaniel SAVAGE, Ebenezer SMITH, Shamgar BARNES, Ephraim WILCOCK,
William STANCLIFF, Jonathan GLEED, Richard GILL, Coriah BACON, Thomas WRIGHT,
John BEGIN, George STOCKEN, David STRICKLAND, Thomas BUCK, Joseph WARNER,
Ebenezer HURLBUT, and John MEER.

In 1712-13, one acre of land was
granted the inhabitants "ye East side ye great river" between the land of James
STANCLIFF and the river for a burying place. This was the old quarry burying
ground, the remains of which have been removed and located east of the present
Episcopal Cemetery.

The General Assembly at the May session 1714 granted
to the inhabitants on the east side of the river parish privileges. The
following is from the society records:

"Whereas, the Honorable Assembly
held at Hartford, May the 13th Anno Domini 1714, granted to the inhabitants of
Middletown on ye East ye great river liberty to be a society of themselves, we
then propose as forthwith, June 3d, at a Society's meeting that Samuel HALL
should be clerk and that the place of the meeting house should be at the east
end of Mr. John HAMBLIN's lot or thereabout; that the broad axe men shall
receive for their labor two shillings sixpence per day, and the narrow axe men
two shillings."

It was voted that the meeting house should be 40 feet
long, 26 feet wide, and 16 feet between joints. The next two years were spent
largely in determining the site. There was quite a settlement in the
northeastern part of the town beyond Mesomesic Mountain. The settlers probably
came from Glastonbury. An old chart locates some 60 families in that section;
and the ruins and foundation stones of some 30 houses can be seen to-day in the
woods, a thick undergrowth of young timber having grown up around them. From the
early records there seems to have been considerable strife between the people at
Mesomesic and the people on the Neck, as to where the meeting house should be
placed. Seven or eight society meetings were held, and sometimes it was voted to
build in the eastern and sometimes in the western, part of town. At length, it
was wisely left to the judgment of a committee, who fixed the place for building
at the corner of Samuel HALL's lot, commonly known as "HALL Hill," where the
roads cross at right angels, near the residence of Gordon STEWART. The people at
Mesomesic went so far as to put up the frame for a meeting house, though it was
never inclosed. The underpinning may be seen to-day, in the woods, a mile and a
half north by east of the residence of Captain CASE. Some now living recall
hearing their grandparents speak of the crowds of people that used to gather
upon the green for worship on the Sabbath, around this meeting house.

Samuel HALL, Joseph WARNER, and Nathaniel WHITE were chosen a committee
to procure a minister, with full power to agree with him on as easy terms as
they could, and it was voted, December 13th 1720:

"To give Mr. Daniel
NEWELL a call to preach the Gospel among us; to give him for the two years
ensuing, £50 a year and his wood, and in the future to add something to it, as
the Society find themselves able; also to bestow certain lands, partly given and
partly purchased at 30 shillings per acre, so long as he continues in the work
of the ministry among us."

It was also voted to build Mr. NEWELL a house
40 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 14 feet between joints; to finish the lower
rooms, he finding glass and nails. This was the first parsonage and was located
opposite the first meeting house. The meeting house was n the corner of the
field now owned by Gordon STEWART, and the parsonage was on the left, in the
corner of the field now owned by Titus HALE. The old asparagus bed of the
parsonage garden has yearly sent forth its growth.

October 25th 1721,
Rev. Daniel NEWELL was ordained pastor of the church. It was this year ordered
that those who paid the minister's rate in grain should pay good wheat at five
shillings per bushel, rye at three shillings, and corn at two shillings. At the
same meeting there was granted a rate of eight pence on the pound for defraying
the charge of building the minister's house, and Ensign SMITH and Sergeant GAINS
were chosen to give Mr. NEWELL a deed of the land on which the house stood.

March 20th 1722, William CORNWALL sen., and Jonathan JUDD were chosen
"tithing men" to look after the disorderly in time of exercise and between the
meetings, and two years later, Ensign SMITH and Joseph WHITE were added to that
responsible committee. December 3d 1722, it was voted "to buy a basin for the
carrying water for baptizing children." This is the first sacred utensil spoken
of.

The names of those appointed on the committee of trust during Mr.
NEWELL's ministerial service were: Joseph WARNER, Richard GILL, Ensign GAINES,
Ebenezer HURLBUT, Sergeant HALE Ebenezer GILL, Joseph WHITE, Nathaniel WHITE,
Jonathan WILCOCK, and Sergeant SAVAGE. Samuel HALL, formerly deacon in the North
Church, of Middletown, and clerk of this church during all of its early history,
was elected to the office of deacon, and publicly ordained January 17th 1724. He
served until his death, which occurred March 6th 1740. January 23d, following,
Joseph WHITE was also chosen deacon.

Rev. Daniel NEWELL became pastor of
this church at its organization. He was a native of Bristol, and graduated from
Yale College in 1718. He died in 1731, aged 31 years. In the inscription on his
grave stone it is said that he was a learned, zealous, and faithful minister of
Jesus Christ. During his ministry there were 237 baptized, 53 admitted to the
church, 51 owned the covenant, and 10 united by letter. The following are the
names of those who signed the covenant, and they are the original members of the
church, the majority of whom probably brought letters from the churches of
Middletown and Cromwell: Daniel NEWELL, Samuel HALL, Ebenezer SMITH, John GAINS,
Richard GOODALE, Samuel EGGLESTON, John RANNEY, Shamgar BARNES, Thomas BUCK,
Thomas WRIGHT, Nathaniel WRIGHT, Joseph WHITE, Jonathan JUDD, Esther CORNWALL,
Elizabeth WARNER, Elizabeth STOCKING, Mary Smith, Esther SAVAGE, Naomi GAINS,
Mary GOODALE, Sarah WARNER, Patience EGGLESTON, Hannah RANNEY, Susanna BEVIN,
Mercy MILLER, Sarah HURLBUT, Elizabeth WRIGHT, Mehitable WHITE, Hannah JUDD.

June 1st 1732, it was voted to give Mr. Moses BARTLETT a call; to give
him £250, to be paid in the three years ensuing, he settling and continuing in
the work of the ministry among them. At the same meeting it was voted to give
Mr. BARTLETT four score pounds a year for his salary and the use of the
parsonage added. The church which stood on HALL Hill was attended at that time
by all the people of the town. They came from what is now East Hampton, a part
of Westchester, and Marlborough, Middle Haddam, and Cobalt, as far north as
Glastonbury. June 6th 1733, Rev. Moses BARTLETT was ordained pastor. During the
second and third years of Mr. BARTLETT's ministry there seems to have been an
unusual degree of religious feeling, and numbers were added to the church; but
it was during the year 1741 and 1742 that there was the greatest revival. It was
these accessions and the general prosperity of the church that suggested and
effected the passage of the following resolution:

"At a meeting of the
Society on the east side ye Great River, February 3d 1746, thirty-six of the
inhabitants of the society present in said meeting and qualified to vote, did by
their votes declare that they judged it necessary to build a Meeting House in
this Society and they that voted in the negative were but seven."

"October 4th 1748, it was voted to proceed to build a meeting house 56
feet in length, 42 in breadth, the posts to be 25 feet long. The first church
edifice had stood 32 years, and was doubtless too small, for the second meeting
house was 16 feet longer, 12 feet wider, and 11 feet higher. The General
Assembly appointed a committee and they located the house, but the people were
not pleased, and a second appeal was made to the Assembly, and after a
protracted delay a second committee of gentlemen arrived and the new meeting
house was located across the street from Colonel BARTLETT's.

December
15th 1848, David SAGE was chosen and ordained deacon of the church. June 4th
1750, it was agreed to apply to the town of Middletown for liberty to purchase
three acres of land of the Indians "joining and encompassing the Stake which the
last Assembly's committee pitched for us to build our Meeting House;" and Deacon
David SAGE was chosen to treat with the town of Middletown and take a lawful
deed of the Indians. The deed with the Indian signatures affixed is still
preserved among the society's papers. It is shown by the records that at this
period the society laid out the roads and built the bridges.

December
27th 1766, Rev. Moses BARTLETT died, aged 58. On the monument erected to his
memory by his people he is called a "sound and skillful divine, a physician of
the body and the soul." He was born in Madison, graduated from Yale College in
1730, and studied theology with his distinguished father-in-law, Rev. Nathaniel
FISK, of Haddam. During his ministry there were 809 baptisms, 88 joined the
church on profession of their faith, 24 by letter, and 255 assented to the
covenant.

January 26th 1767, a committee was appointed to see that "ye
pulpit be supplied by some of ye neighboring ministers and to seek out some
young candidate to come amongst us on probation for settlement," and soon
afterward it was voted to invite Mr. Cyprian STRONG, who had been supplying the
pulpit for some time, to become their settled pastor at a salary of £100 per
year, but the parsonage was retained for the use of Mr. Bartlett's family the
ensuing year.

November 5th 1765, it was recommended that the committee,
consisting of Captain Jeremiah GOODRICH, Captain David SAGE, and David ROBINSON,
"be empowered to purchase a piece of land for burying our dead," and a year
later they purchased of William BARTLETT an acre and a half of land for £5, 5
shillings (the present cemetery, lying east of the Central Church), the deed
bearing date January 24th 1767.

From the incorporation of the town of
Chatham in 1767 till April 8th 1799, until the completion of the new town house
on Penfield Hill, all town business was transacted at the meeting house of the
First Society of Chatham.

November 7th 1783, Moses BARTLETT was chosen
Clerk, and sworn. October 17th 1791, Dr. Moses BARTLETT and Hezekiah GOODRICH
were chosen deacons, and Josiah WHITE was chosen Chorister. November 25th 1803,
Deacon David SAGE died, aged 86 years. For 55 years he had been deacon of the
church and during this period, in spiritual power and influence, was second only
to the pastor. He had been elected under Rev. Mr. BARTLETT's ministration, and
when the young pastor in the midst of his multifarious duties heard the summons
and went up higher, all eyes at one turned to Deacon SAGE for counsel and
spiritual comfort, and during those years when the church was destitute, he was,
ex officio, their pastor. It was at his house, still standing intact, the first
back of the present parsonage, that the learned council convened to examine Rev.
Dr. Strong, and from which the next day they reverently wended their way to the
church and installed the young pastor.

November 19th 1811, Rev. Cyprian
STRONG died, aged 67 years. Says his immediate successor: "It is recorded by one
who had the means of information concerning him that he was highly and
deservedly esteemed for his good sense, his thorough acquaintance with theology,
and his uniform and blameless conversation. In the midst of numerous trails he
was calm and resigned. The prominent features of his character are happily
expressed on his monument: "In morals exemplary, in doctrines uncorrupt, in
reasoning profound, in declaring God's counsel perspicuous and solemn, and in
death peaceful." A number who have been engaged in the ministry, pursued their
theological studies under his direction. During the 44 years of his connection
with the church, 201 were added to it, 24 owned the covenant, and 720 were
baptized.

June 17th 1812, it was voted to invite Rev. Eber L. CLARK to
settle as pastor among them, at a salary of $500 per year, provided that he
would admit people (in certain cases) to take the bonds of the covenant, and
that he would baptize their children. The invitation was accepted conditionally,
and, September 24th 1812, a council was convened, and Mr. CLARK was installed
pastor of the church. He was dismissed November 7th 1815. During his ministry,
29 joined the church on profession of their faith, and five by letter. He
afterward settled in the parish at Granby. In 1820, he was settled in
Winchendon, Massachusetts, and from 1838 to 1855 he was pastor of the
Congregational church at Richmond. He was a native of Mansfield, and a graduate
of Williams College.

From 1774 to 1790, Deacon Ebenezer WHITE, Captain
Samuel HALL, Colonel John PENFIELD, Colonel Joseph BLAGUE, and Jeremiah GOODRICH
were empowered to manage the affairs of the church, and from this time down to
1812, William DIXON, Jonathan BROWN, Aaron WILCOX, David WHITE, Jesse JOHNSON,
Joseph WHITE, Daniel WHITE, Amos GOODRICH, David CRITTENDEN, and Samuel PENFIELD
served, at long intervals, in the same capacity. November 6th 1804, Moses
BARTLETT, who for some years had been clerk and deacon, was chosen treasurer,
and held those office till his death, in 1810. Hon. Ebenezer WHITE, who
represented Chatham at 32 sessions of the Legislature, was at the convention
that ratified the Constitution of the United States, and was associate judge of
the County Court, succeeded his father, Joseph WHITE, as deacon, and held that
office till his death, July 29th 1817, a space of 49 years.

October 3d
1816, Rev. Hervey TALCOTT was ordained pastor of the church. At a meeting held
November 3d 1812, measures were taken for establishing a permanent fund for the
support of the gospel ministry. A subscription paper was circulated, which
elicited 42 subscriptions, and, including other funds, made the sum total of
$6,075. Mr. TALCOTT received a salary of $500 per year, with a settlement of
$500 to be paid in two years from the time of his ordination. April 16th 1822,
Erastus STRONG was appointed clerk, and sworn, and Deacon Jonathan BROWN became
treasurer of the society. During the following year (1823) occurred the most
remarkable revival of religion that this church ever witnessed. From the first
Sabbath in May to the first Sabbath in January following, 60 persons were
admitted to the church on profession of their faith. February 26th 1824, it was
voted that the seating committee be discharged, and that each one should sit
where he pleased. In 1827, it was voted "that the committee procure a load of
wood for the use of the stove in this house the present winter." Dispensing with
the seating committee and bringing into the meeting house a stove were among the
fruits of the revival of 1823.

At a regular church meeting, November 2d
1821, Job H. PAYNE and Joel STRICKLAND were chosen deacons of the church. During
the year 1824, the meeting house was repaired at an expense of $500. At the
annual meeting in 1826, it was first voted to sell the pews to the highest
bidders; and John PAYNE was made auctioneer, and also elected treasurer of the
society. At the first sale the pews ranged from $3 to $20. August 28th 1843, it
was voted "that in the opinion of this meeting it is expedient to build a new
house of worship," and P. H. SELLEW, J. R. AMES, and J. H. PAYNE were appointed
a committee to examine and select the site for a new meeting house. November
18th 1843, it was voted "that it is expedient and desirable that the corporate
name of this Society should be altered from 'First Ecclesiastical Society of
Chatham' to the 'First Ecclesiastical Society of Portland,'" and this change was
confirmed by an act of the Legislature at its session the following May.

At the annual meeting in 1845, difference of opinion prevailed as to the
location of the prospective new church, and accordingly a committee, consisting
of Deacon Job H. PAYNE, Philip H. SELLEW, and Ebenezer B. WHITE, were appointed
to select two or more judicious and disinterested persons as an advisory
committee, to consult together and report. The next year, by a vote of nine to
fifteen, it was determined to place the new edifice on the old site, but it was
decided by the moderator (one of the deacons of the church) to be no vote. At a
meeting soon after it was voted thirteen to seven to build on "Meeting House
Hill." This was likewise decided by the same moderator to be no vote. It is
presumable that the foregoing decisions were reached by the moderator, in view
of the smallness of the number present, the general want of enthusiasm, and
possible lack of requisite pledges. Three years elapsed, when, November 6th
1849, it was voted twenty-six to nine, three not voting, that the meeting house
should be erected on the lot owned by John I. WORTHINGTON, situated between the
dwelling houses of Harlord H. CASWELL, and George H. PETTIS, and William H.
BARTLETT, Ebenezer B. WHITE, Henry E. SAGE, Philip H. SELLEW, and Reuben PAYNE
were appointed a building committee. The present church edifice was built in
1850, and on the 18th of December of the same year was dedicated. It is of
Gothic structure, 70 by 39 feet. The building cost $6,200; the site, bell,
furniture, and other accommodations, $1,450; total, $7,650.

February 7th 1851, George C. H. GILBERT and Franklin PAYNE were
elected deacons. January 6th 1861, Rev. Hervey TALCOTT resigned his pastoral
office, but was nominally the pastor until his death, which occurred December
19th 1865, in his 75th year and the 50th of his ministry. During his ministry
231 were added to the church, of which 175 united on profession of their faith,
and 102 were baptized.

Mr. TALCOTT was succeeded by Andrew C. Denison,
who resigned the pastoral office December 28th 1867, having received a call to
become president of Biddle Theological Institute, North Carolina. Losing health
and wife at the south, he came North the following year, and has since been
acting pastor of the church at Middlefield. During his ministry of some six
years at Portland there were 21 baptisms, 28 united with the church on
profession of their faith, and 18 by letter.

In July 1867, the society
received a munificent present from Sylvester GILDERSLEEVE-a handsome and
valuable clock for their church tower. Owing to the removal of Deacon G. C. H.
GILBERT to Waterbury, and his resignation in consequence, J. Edwards GOODRICH
was elected deacon August 3oth 1867.

It was during the succeeding
interim in the pastorate that subscriptions were solicited for the building of a
parsonage, and under the superintendence of F. A. CHAPMAN, Evelyn WHITE, and
William H. BARTLETT-a committee appointed by the society-a commodious, elegant,
and convenient house was built opposite the church. The ground and house,
together with barn and additional buildings, cost about $5,500.

October
14th 1869, Isaac C. MESERVE, a recent graduate of Hartford Theological Seminary,
was installed pastor of this church. January 8th 1870, Francis A. CHAPMAN was
elected deacon in place of J. E. GOODRICH, and held the office until his death,
January 30th 1876. The Rev. Mr. MESERVE having received a call to the State
Street Congregational Church, Brooklyn, resigned and was dismissed July 6th
1871. May 7th 1874, he became pastor of the Davenport Congregational Church, New
Haven. During his pastorate in Portland, there were nine children baptized,
three admitted to the church on profession of their faith, and eight by letter.
January 19th 1872, Rev. Samuel HOPLEY became acting pastor, and served in that
capacity for a short time.

Rev. William B. LEE was installed pastor May
8th 1873. Under Mr. LEE's pastorate, there were 7 children baptized, 24 united
with the church on profession of their faith, and 19 by letter. He was dismissed
April 28th 1875.

May 18th 1876, Rev. John S. BAYNE was installed pastor
of this church. During his ministry thus far, 17 children have been baptized, 21
have united with the church by letter, and 45 on profession of their faith in
Christ. The present membership is 138.

In the fall of 1877, a fine pipe
organ, costing $2,000, was purchased and placed in the church. In the summer of
1878, the church, parsonage, and barn were repainted; and in 1883, the church
building was reshingled, and seats recushioned, the floors newly carpeted, and
the walls newly frescoed, involving considerable expense, but promptly met with
liberal subscriptions and soon canceled.

In the study
of those evens which compose the warp and woof of the history of this church,
the organization and success of its Sabbath school deserve mention. It was
organized in 1820, and during the first 30 years Deacons Job PAYNE and Joel
STRICKLAND alternately officiated as superintendents. The following have served
as superintendents since 1831: Dr. GILBERT, I(or J). Edwards GOODRICH, Horace B.
WILCOX, Henry KILBY, Reuben PAYNE, Lucius STEWART, and John LEWIS.

TRINITY
CHURCH (PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL).

On the 24th of
September 1788, a company of citizens to the number of 37 signed a document
agreeing to maintain services, according to the Book of Common Prayer, for one
year; and then, having informed themselves of the doctrines and customs of the
Episcopal Church, they were to be free to continue or desist, as they might
choose.

This may be regarded as the founding of the parish, although its
forma organization was deferred until April 17th 1789, when a meeting was held,
with the Rev. Abraham JARVIS, rector of Middletown, in the chair. Nathaniel
CORNWALL was chosen clerk, and it was voted to raise funds by taxing each member
two pence on the pound, according to his rating in the civil list. The same year
was signalized by the baptism of 10 adults and 81 children, by Mr. JARVIS, in
one day, June 24th being the festival of St. John the Baptist. A church edifice
was begun at once, and occupied as early as 1790;but it was never consecrated.
It still remains standing (in 1884), a substantial wooden building, 50 feet long
and 36 feet wide, without any tower or porch. It is now used as a town hall,
having been presented to the new town of Portland soon after its separation from
Chatham, which occurred in 1841.

The second edifice occupied a site on
Main street, nearer the ferry. It was begun in 1830, opened for divine service,
January 20th 1832, and consecrated by Bishop BROWNELL, May 15th 1833. The
material was brown freestone. It was 70 by 48 feet, had two towers, and cost
$8,000. It was demolished in 1874, to make way for a nobler structure, which
stand upon the same ground. This was long in reaching completion, for the
financial stringency of the times delayed contributions.

The chapel,
which constitutes a transept, was occupied in 1874; but the main building,
though roofed and slated, stood unfinished till 1882, when it was finally
consecrated by Bishop WILLIAMS, July 13th. It is a beautiful specimen of gothic
architecture, with massive walls of Portland freestone, varied by many gables
and porches, a tower, two torrents, and an apsidal chancel. Inside are columns
of stone, a stone alter, an eagle lecturn of brass, a carved stone fount, and a
fine organ, besides the usual pews and furniture of black walnut and butternut.
All the windows are of rich stained glass, from English manufacturers. They
contain pictures of Bible scenes, and bear inscriptions commemorating relatives
of the donors. A full description of this church cannot well be given in this
brief sketch; but visitors pronounce it one of the finest buildings (of its
size) in Connecticut. It seats about 500, besides 125 more in the chapel, which
can be connected by lowering the sashes in a stained-glass screen. It has cost
$75,000 already; and lacks one or two features of the original design, which may
be added hereafter.

For the first two years the parish was under the
care of the Middletown rector, Rev. Abraham JARVIS; and again from 1793 to 1796.
The settled rectors of Portland were as follows: Rev. Tillotson BRONSON, 1791 to
1793; Monoah SMITH, 1796 to 1828; William JARVIS 1829 to 1837; Samuel Moody
EMERY, S. T. D., 1837 to 1870; James Field SPALDING, 1872 to 1879; Frederick
William HARRIMAN, 1880.

Mr. BRONSON and Mr. MILES divided their
ministrations between this parish and others in the neighborhood, until 1820,
when Portland secured the whole attention of Mr. MILES. During the vacancy
between Dr. EMERY and Mr. SPALDING, the Rev. David H. SHORT, D. D., supplied the
services.

The rectory stands opposite the church, and is a large,
comfortable frame house, with about an acre of land. It was purchased in 1874;
former rectors having occupied houses of their own.

The parish has
received legacies at various times from Joseph BLAGUE, John SHEPARD, and
Alexander SAGE, to constitute a permanent fund, which now amounts to $13,000.
The interest only can be used to support the services.

It is noticeable
that the office of parish clerk has been held by only three persons: Nathaniel
CORNWALL, 1789 to 1823; David CORNWALL, his son, 1823 to 1866; and Charles A.
JARVIS, from 1866 to the present time.

Certain parishioners in the
district known as "Rose Hill," desiring services for their own neighborhood, an
edifice was erected there, and named "The Chapel of Saint John the Baptist." Its
corner stone was laid June 24th 1870; and it was consecrated by Bishop WILLIAMS,
soon after. It is a gothic building, of wood, with stained glass windows, and
all the furnishing of a complete little church. It cost about $3,000, and is
held in trust by Trinity Parish. Services are maintained by lay readers from the
Berkeley Divinity School; and the record makes a monthly visit to administer the
sacraments.

Services are also held in the same manner as the "Free
Mission Chapel," at Pacausett, which is open to all denominations.

At
the present time, 1884, Trinity Parish as 280 communicants, and 160 families. It
maintains five services and two Sunday schools every Lord's Day. Its property
amounts to nearly $100,000, estimating lands, buildings, &c., at cost. It
sends three delegates to the Diocesan Convention. It is a conservative parish,
loyal to church principles, and at peace in itself. A quiet growth continues to
bless it with prosperity.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

In 1835, a
Methodist class was formed, called "Chatham Methodist Episcopal class." Mr.
Selden COOK was the appointed leader. The class was reckoned as part of Chatham
circuit, on the New London district of the New England Conference. The presiding
elder of the district was the Rev. Daniel DORCHESTER; the circuit preachers,
Rev. Freeman NUTTING, and Rev. Amos SIMPSON. The class numbered, including the
leader, 25 members, only one of whom is now left in the church-Mr. Chester
HURLBURT, who was for several years leader of the old class. In 1845, the
circuit preachers' names were Rev. Edmund A. STANDISH and Rev. W. O. CADY. The
latter is now a resident of Portland. The class in the above year, numbered 50
members. The New England Conference being divided in 1841, the class became part
of what was called the "Providence Conference," which name has of late given way
to New England Southern Conference. In April 1851, Portland class was created a
separate charge, and the Rev. F. W. BILL was stationed as preacher in charge.
Twenty members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Middletown, who resided in
Portland, joined the Portland Society. The services were held in the town house.
Up to this time, the society had worshipped in what was called "the old church
over the meadow."

Rev. F. W. BILL succeeded in raising a large
subscription toward building a church in a more central location. In February
1852, a lot of land was purchased of Mr. Frederick A. PARKER and deeded to the
following gentlemen, who formed the church board of trustees, viz: Edward
GRAHAM, Chester S. HURLBURT, Kellogg STRONG, Sherman KELSEY 2d, Harrison
CHAMBERLAIN, Oliver W. MACK, and Thomas B. SPENCER. The Rev. W. KELLEN succeeded
the Rev. F. W. BILL, and the new church enterprise was commenced. The Rev. A. H.
ROBINSON followed, and at the close of his term the building was nearly
completed. In April 1853, the Rev. George W. WOODING was appointed preacher, and
during his term the church building was finished. It was opened and dedicated to
the worship of God, July 27th 1853. Mr. WOODING was followed by Rev. Robert
PARSONS for two years, since which time the following have officiated: Rev. John
WHEAR, four months; W. J. FOSS, seven months; Rev. I. G. BIDWELL, two years;
Erastus BENTON, seven months; Albert WYAT, five months; L. W. BLOOD, two years;
F. J. WAGNER, one year; R. DONKERSLY, two years; W. O. CADY two years; W. H.
COOK, and Rev. B. GILL, students, two years; E. M. ANTHONY, two years; John
HOWSON, one year; E. B. BRADFORD, one year; A. W. SEAVEY, three years; Walter
ELA, two years; J. H. NUTTING, one year; O. H. FERNALD, three years. R. POVEY is
the present pastor. He resides in the Methodist Episcopal parsonage.

The Swedish
Evangelical Lutheran Zion's Church, of Portland, Conn., was organized in June
1874, with a membership of 136, at the close of the same year. The first elected
deacons were, Mr. J. DANIELSON, O. HALLBERG, and C. OLSSON. The first elected
trustees were, Mr. J. HALLBERG, J. HOLMGREN, and J. LUNDELL. The ministers in
charge of the church have been: Rev. T. O. LINELL, now of Pontiac, R. I.; Rev.
John MELLANDER, now of South Bend, Ind.; Mr. J. HOLMES supplied the pulpit for
some months. The present pastor, Rev. D. P. AHLQUIST, from Marshalltown, Iowa,
was installed over the church December 11th 1883.

The house of worship,
a frame structure, on Waverly avenue, was erected 1879. Its size was 46 by 31
feet. It was rebuilt and enlarged in 1883, its present size being 80 by 31 feet.
This edifice will seat 500 persons.

The membership of the church is at
present 500; the communicants numbering 317. The Sunday school has its ten
classes, about 100 children. The superintendent of the school is Mr. Andrew
LINDHOLM. Other officers of the church at present are: deacons, Adolph GULL,
John LARSON, John LUNDELL, Samuel ANDERSON, Andrew LINDHOLM, and Adolph MONSON;
trustees: Adolph ANDERSON (president), John G. FORSBERG (secretary), Andrew
BENGTSON (cashier), August LUNDELL, Carl G. JOHNSON, and Frank J. JOHNSON. The
secretary at parish meeting is Mr. Charles ERICSON. The organist and leader of
the choir is Mr. John SEGERSTRAND.

Connected with the church is also the
Scandia Temperance and Aid Society; the officers being, Andrew LINDHOLM,
president; Adolph GULL, secretary; and Adolph Anderson, cashier.

The
Swedish Lutheran Zion's Church is connected with and under the supervision of
the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod of North America.

BAPTISTS.

A Baptist
church was formed in the northeastern part of this town in 1783. Part of the
members were from Glastonbury. It ceased to exist many years ago.

ST.
MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

St. Mary's
Catholic Parish, Portland, was formed in 1872, and the Rev. William E. DUFFY was
appointed pastor. Anterior to this time, the people were under the jurisdiction
of the pastor of St. John's Church, Middletown. Rev. William E. DUFFY died, and
the Rev. Dennis DESMOND was given charge October 1st 1876. He began the erection
of the present church edifice, located on Freestone avenue, the corner stone of
which was laid April 15th 1877. The church is of brick, cruciform in shape, and
has a seating capacity for over 1,000 persons.

There is also, in
connection with the church, a very handsome pastoral residence. Father DESMOND
remained with the congregation until he saw the completion of all this good
work, then the Right Rev. Bishop MAHON placed him in a few field with greater
responsibilities-St. John's Parish, Middletown.

Rev. J. FLEMING, the
present pastor, succeeded him September 2d 1881.

CENTRAL
CHURCH.

In 1850, a
part of the first society, dissatisfied with the site chosen for the erection of
a new meting house, began building another, some distance east of the old
meeting house. Thirty-eight members of the old church applied for dismissal in
February 1851, and organized a new church, taking the name of Central church.
Joel STRICKLAND and Job H. PAYNE, who had been deacons in the old church, and
were included in the number dismissed, were elected deacons of the new church,
September 5th 1852. Rev. W. G. W. T. RANKIN was their first pastor. He received
his classical education at Ripley college, and his theological at the Lane
Seminary. He remained 10 years. He now resides in Glastonbury. Mr. WASHBURN
succeeded him; then the pulpit was supplied for a time by students from Hartford
Seminary. Mr. WHEELER then preached for three years, followed successively by
Mr. HANNAH, Mr. COLTON, Mr. PARMLEE, Mr. PECK, Mr. CHASE, and Mr. HARRIS. Rev.
Norman SQUIRES then occupied the pulpit for five years. Afterward, Mr. C.
TRANTOR, Mr. HOLDEN (three years), and Mr. BERRY; Mr. LITTLEFIELD has preached
for the last three years, and Mr. HORTON has lately commenced his labors among
them. The five last named were all students from Wesleyan University. The
deacons have been: Joel STRICKLAND and Job. PAYNE, already mentioned; after
their deaths, William GOODRICH and Ralph PELTON were elected, and afterward
William KELSEY and Silas PAYNE. The superintendents of the Sunday school have
been: Rev. S. G. W. T. RANKIN, Enoch SAGE, Sherman GOODRICH, Lucius STEWART,
Gordon GOODRICH, and William KELSEY. The Central Church has about 70 members.
The building is of wood, 60 feet by 40, and it cost $4,000.